Quantitative measure of sex preference and the study of its relation to fertility rate
Chen, P.
Chinese Journal of Population Science 5(3): 223-232
1993
ISSN/ISBN: 1044-8403 PMID: 12345588 Document Number: 334852
The following conditions must be met in order for sex preference to affect fertility: 1) fertility decline, 2) use of contraception to control births, and 3) a small family size. Fertility in 1990 was 2.25 children, and contraceptive use was 73.24% of married women of reproductive age in 1987. The Chinese one-child policy made it difficult to satisfy sex preference goals. A number of methods were described for measuring the extent of sex preference. Preference may be contained in a survey question about preference regardless of birth control policy. Personal pregnancy and contraceptive use histories provide another means of evaluating the presence of sex preference. Chinese surveys in 1985 and 1987 showed that women preferred boys, regardless of whether each woman already had a boy and a girl. The general fertility rate by sex is another measure for assessing demand. Simulations, which hypothetically determined the extent of sex preference, showed that only 90 families out of every 1000 families could have only a girl, when the general fertility rate was under 2.287. Analysis of data from a survey of suburban Xiangyang City, Shaanxi Province in 1987 revealed that elderly parents benefitted more from boy children. A simulation of the demand for taking care of parents in old age showed 2.3 children were needed to satisfy the demand for boys in the 1970s; 71 families out of a 100 would have only girls (202 girls per 1000 mothers). Choice of methods was found in a simulation to be highly correlated with the number and sex of surviving children. A greater proportion of women, who had one or two girls, did not use contraception compared to women with boys. The probability of abandoning contraception within 4 years by a woman with a girl child was 90% in contrast to 85% for a woman with two boys within 6 years. Those women with a boy and a girl had stable contraceptive patterns. The proportion with an additional pregnancy was smaller among those with both a boy and a girl. Rejection of contraception, use for a short time, or an additional pregnancy were related to having one child or girl children.