• Journal for History of Mathematics
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.79-86
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• 2008

The sex ratio at birth of South Korea is exceeding the natural sex ratio at birth, which is estimated to be about 105. One of the reasons of high sex ratio at birth is due to sex-selective abortion which is caused by strong son preference. The main objective of this study is to identify whether the families which are trying to bear children only until they acquire one son contribute to high sex ratio at birth. As a result, we obtain the theorem that if the number of such families diverge, the sex ratio at birth converges to the natural sex ratio almost surely. Therefore, we conclude that the existence of the families which are trying to bear children only until they receive one son does not affect the sex ratio at birth.

• Korea journal of population studies
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.98-115
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• 1994

This study is attempting to examine the possible determinants of the rise of the sex ratio at birth from 106 to 110 in past decade in Taiwan. The basic hypothesis for the sudden rise of the sex ratio at birth is due to a combination of prenatal sex determination and abortion. The reasoning for this hypothesis involves three types of considerations - motivation, norm, and access. The theory is evaluated by analyzing data from birth registration and a large and representative sampie of Taiwanese wives of childbearing age. The empirical data seem to support the theoretical preposition and the basic hypothesis that the rise of the sex ratio at birth in Taiwan is due to a combination of prenatal sex determination and abortion. There is striking evidence of son-preference in the rise of the sex ratio at birth in higher birth order. In 1990 the sex ratio was 119 for third births and 128 for fourth and fifth births compared to the expected 106. Also, the 1991 KAP data indicated that women who have only daughters but no any son are more likely to make prenatal sex screening and terminate their pregnancies in male live births at higher birth order. Obviously, genetic diagnosis through chorionic villus sampling which was available in recent years was misused for prenatal sex determination and sex selective abortion.

• Korea journal of population studies
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.78-123
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• 1984

This study is attempting to examine the possible determinants of the rise of the sex ratio at birth from 106 to 110 in past decade in Taiwan. The basic hypothesis for the sudden rise of the sex ratio at birth is due to a combination of prenatal sex determination and abortion. The reasoning for this hypothesis involves three types of considerations - motivation, norm, and access. The theory is evaluated by analyzing data from birth registration and a large and representative sampie of Taiwanese wives of childbearing age. The empirical data seem to support the theoretical preposition and the basic hypothesis that the rise of the sex ratio at birth in Taiwan is due to a combination of prenatal sex determination and abortion. There is striking evidence of son-preference in the rise of the sex ratio at birth in higher birth order. In 1990 the sex ratio was 119 for third births and 128 for fourth and fifth births compared to the expected 106. Also, the 1991 KAP data indicated that women who have only daughters but no any son are more likely to make prenatal sex screening and terminate their pregnancies in male live births at higher birth order. Obviously, genetic diagnosis through chorionic villus sampling which was available in recent years was misused for prenatal sex determination and sex selective abortion.

• Korea journal of population studies
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.67-76
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• 1988

The purpose of this study was to find out the factors affecting birth sex ratio which had revealed alarmingly higher in recent years. This study was conducted to get hold of the basic data such as the sex ratio of live births which had been delivered at 5 general hospitals in Taegu from 1982 to 1986. And author chose Dongsan Medical Center from those 5 hospitals for further detailed study, and reviewed 1,286 medical records of mothers who had birth in each February and March from 1984 to 1987. Of these 1,286 deliveries, 30 cases were twin deliveries, which added the total children numbers to 1,316. The findings of this study were as follows: The average of birth sex ratio( 114.5) for 5 years at five general hospitals in Taegu was slightly higher than the traditional birth sex ratio( 102-107) and the highest was 123.4 in 1985. There was no significant difference in birth sex ratio by mother's educational level, her religion nor father's occupation. The birth sex ratio of the cases whose mother was above 35 years old was significantly high(400.0), that of the cases who were born to the mothers who had more than 3rd parity was significantly high(309.5), and that of the cases whose mother had more than two daughters and no son was also significantly high (330.7). The birth sex ratio of the cases who did not have ultrasonogram on their prenatal visits was 87.8. In contrast to this, that of the cases who had ultrasonogram was significantly higher( 135.5). Of the mothers who have more than two daughters and no son' 80.4% (45 cases) had ultrasonogram and their newborn's birth sex ratio was significantly high(542.9). Of the cases who were born to more than 3rd parity mothers, 75.6%(65 cases) of their mothers had ultrasonogram and their sex ratio was significantly high(441.6). It was revealed by this study that the birth sex ratio is changed to significantly high due to sex confirmation of the fetus by ultrasonogram. Thus it is recommended that the value related to having equality of sexes must be ingrained by changing the various social systems and value systems which is now aggrevating the son preference and should provide controlling system which can prohibit the ultrasonogram for sex confirmation only.

• Korea journal of population studies
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.116-135
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• 1994

China's population and family planning program has heen successful. Women's fertility as measured by total fertility rate (TFR) has declined from 5.8 in 1970 to 2.3 in 1990, accordingly the annual crude birth rate(CBR) has declined from 34 per thousand in 1970 to 21 per thousand in 1989, and the annual natural growth rate from 2.6 percent in 1970 to 1.4 percent in 1989 (Coale and Chen, 1987; SSB, 1991; Gu, 1994). While this is indeed an astonishing achievement for a developing country to have its fertility down to replacement within a short period, some new issues emerging along with the rapid fertility decline require careful considerations. One of them is the uprising of the sex ratio at birth in China. The 1990 population census reported the sex ratio at birth in China of 113.8 in 1989, which is ohviously much higher than the acceptable level of normal ratio around 106. It has received since then a lot of tention in China and abroad, among demographic professionals and governmental agencies alike (Hull, 1990; Johansson and Nygren, 1991; Xuand Guo, 1991; Tu, 1993; Gu and Xu, 1994; among others). Based on the available demographic data and research results this paper will first have a review of the patterns and trends of sex ratio at birth in China, then turn to the immediate causes of abnormal sex ratio at birth and the determinants of the son preference, followed with a conceptual framework for understanding of the phenomenon, and finally the policy implications and recommendations will be discussed.

• Korea journal of population studies
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.159-178
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• 2011

Korea has been widely recognized as the most successful country for reversal of the rise in sex ratio at birth (from the mid-1980s to the mid-1990s) in a short period of time. However, unusually high sex ratios at birth are still observed in most regions as parity increases. Given that imbalanced sex ratios at high birth orders are mostly due to son-selective abortion, it still remains questionable whether son-selective reproductive behavior has vanished in Korea. The main purpose of this study is to analyze the pattern of changing trends and socioeconomic differentials in sex ratio at birth. Micro-data from birth registration for 2009 are utilized. Attention is focused on analyzing sex ratios at birth in Youngnam region according to age of mother, parity, educational attainment of parents, and occupation of parents. A series of simulations are also conducted in this paper to show how prenatal sex screening and son-selective abortion have affected the level of sex ratio at birth for years 1994, 2005 and 2009.

• Korea journal of population studies
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.70-89
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• 1983

China's population and family planning program has heen successful. Women's fertility as measured by total fertility rate (TFR) has declined from 5.8 in 1970 to 2.3 in 1990, accordingly the annual crude birth rate(CBR) has declined from 34 per thousand in 1970 to 21 per thousand in 1989, and the annual natural growth rate from 2.6 percent in 1970 to 1.4 percent in 1989 (Coale and Chen, 1987; SSB, 1991; Gu, 1994). While this is indeed an astonishing achievement for a developing country to have its fertility down to replacement within a short period, some new issues emerging along with the rapid fertility decline require careful considerations. One of them is the uprising of the sex ratio at birth in China. The 1990 population census reported the sex ratio at birth in China of 113.8 in 1989, which is ohviously much higher than the acceptable level of normal ratio around 106. It has received since then a lot of tention in China and abroad, among demographic professionals and governmental agencies alike (Hull, 1990; Johansson and Nygren, 1991; Xuand Guo, 1991; Tu, 1993; Gu and Xu, 1994; among others). Based on the available demographic data and research results this paper will first have a review of the patterns and trends of sex ratio at birth in China, then turn to the immediate causes of abnormal sex ratio at birth and the determinants of the son preference, followed with a conceptual framework for understanding of the phenomenon, and finally the policy implications and recommendations will be discussed.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.42 no.2
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• pp.143-150
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• 2009

Objectives : South Korea has experienced unprecedented ups and downs in the sex ratio at birth(SRB), which has been a unique phenomenon in the last two decades. However, little is known about socioeconomic factors that influence the SRB. Employing the diffusion theory by Rogers, this study was undertaken to examine the trends in social variations in the SRB from 1981 to 2004 in Korea. Methods : The data was taken from Vital Birth Statistics for the period from 1981-2004. We computed the annual male proportion of live births according to the parental education(university, middle/high school, primary) and occupation(non-manual, manual, others). Logistic regression analysis was employed to estimate the odds ratios of male birth according to social position for the equidistant three time periods(1981-1984, 1991-1994, and 2001-2004). Results : An increased SRB was detected among parents with higher social position before the mid 1980s. Since then, however, a greater SRB was found for the less educated and manual jobholders. The inverse social gradient for the SRB was most prominent in early 1990s, but the gap has narrowed since the late 1990s. The mother's socioeconomic position could be a sensitive indicator of the social variations in the sex ratio at birth. Conclusions : Changes in the relationship of parental social position with the SRB were detected during the 1980-2004 in Korea. This Korean experience may well be explained by diffusion theory, suggesting there have been socioeconomic differences in the adoption and spread of sex-detection technology.

• Korea journal of population studies
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.65-96
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• 1997

The main purpose of this study is to explore the determinants of sex ratio imbalance at birth in Taegu which has experienced the extremely imbalanced sex ratio at birth since mid-1980s. This paper attempts to compare the determinants of sex ratio imbalance at birth, such as sex discrimination against women, son preference, prenatal sex identification followes by sex-selective induced abortions, among married women aged 25 to 44 in Taegu with those in Bay area, California in USA. The research is based on the survey data which were conducted in Taegu, Repulic of Korea and Bay area, California in USA. The findings of this analysis suggest that married women in Taegu are more likely to feel sex discrimination against women than married women in Bay area. Furthermore, the percentage of married women's effort for son bearing before pregnancy is much higher than that of married women in Bay area. We also have found that the percentage of sex-selective induced abortion in Taegu is six times higher than that of married women in Bay area. According to the logistic regression analysis, the determinants of sex-selective induced abortion among married women in Taegu are discrimination against women, son preference, prenatal sex identification. On the other hand, age is the only variable which has an important impact on sex-selective induced abortion among married women in Bay area. From the findings of this study, we can conclude that son preference based on Cofucianism is the most important impact on sex ratio imbalance at birth in Taegu where son preference is much stronger than other regions in Korea. The phenomenon of extremely imbalanced sex ratio at birth in Taegu is the result of combination of these factors, such as strong son preference, seeking to have at least one son within small family size, and prenatal sex identification followed by sex-selective induced abortion.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.53 no.5
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• pp.371-380
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• 2020

Objectives: This study investigated the effects of socio-demographic factors on the decreasing trend in the sex ratio at birth from 1997 to 2017 in Korea. Methods: Data from 10 349 602 live births registered with Statistics Korea from 1997 to 2017 were analyzed. The secondary sex ratio (SSR), defined as the ratio of male to female live births, during the study period (1997-1999 [phase I], 2000-2002 [phase II], 2003-2005 [phase III], 2006-2008 [phase IV], 2009-2011 [phase V], 2012-2014 [phase VI], and 2015-2017 [phase VII]) was calculated according to selected socio-demographic factors, such as parental age, education, occupation, and birth order. Logistic regression models were used to estimate odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals for a male birth after adjusting for potential confounders. Results: The SSR gradually decreased from 1.10 (in 1998-2000 and 2002) to 1.05 (in 2013-2016). While a decreasing trend in the SSR was not noted among first births, male-biased sex ratios were prominent among third and higher-order births, for which the highest SSR was 1.46 in 1998. Higher birth order was significantly associated with an excess of male births in phases I-VI (≥third vs. first, OR range, 1.03 to 1.35). Advanced maternal age was significantly associated with an excess of female births in phases II, III, and V (≥40 vs. 20-24 years, OR range, 0.92 to 0.95). Conclusions: This study demonstrated that advanced maternal age and reduction of the artificially-biased SSR among third and higher-order births may partially explain the decreasing trend in the SSR from 1997 to 2017 in Korea.