Context: As per the study by Pew Research Centre, the “son bias” is on a decline in India.

Key findings of the report

• The sex ratio at birth have normalised slightly over the last decade.

• It was 111 boys per 100 girls in India’s 2011 census.

• As per latest National Family Health Survey (2019-21), it is 108 boys per 100 girls. 

• The average annual number of baby girls “missing” in India fell from about 480,000 in 2010 to 410,000 in 2019.

• The “missing” here refers to how many more female births would have occurred during this time if there were no female-selective abortions.

• Between 2000-2019, nine crore female births went “missing” because of female-selective abortions.

Religion-wise sex selection

• Among religion-wise sex selection, the gap was the highest for Sikhs.

• The sex ratio among Sikhs hovers around 110, as compared to 130 males per 100 females in 2001.

• Both Chirstians (105 boys to 100 girls) and Muslims (106 boys to 100 girls) have sex ratios close to the natural norm.

• While the Sikhs make up less than 2% of the Indian population, they accounted for 5% (4.4 lakh) of the 9 crore baby girls who went missing India due to sex-selective abortions.

• Hindus make up 80% of India’s population but accounted for 87% (0.8 crore) of the females missing.

• In India, fertility has declined across all groups in recent decades, though Sikhs have lowest rates, and Muslims the highest.

Reasons for son preference in India

• In India, son preference may be tied to cultural practices that make daughters more costly to raise than sons.

• In Indian tradition, only sons pass down the family name, thereby carrying on the family lineage.

• In Hinduism, sons are expected to perform last rites for deceased parents, including lighting the funeral pyre and scattering their ashes.

• Sons have also been a way for families to preserve ancestral property because males generally dominate inheritance lines.

• Daughters, meanwhile, often take wealth away in the form of large dowries at the time of marriage, with payments sometimes continuing throughout a daughter’s life.

• And while sons continue to live in the parental home after marriage, with wives who often become the primary caregivers for aging in-laws.

• A daughter is expected to move away from her parents and into her husband’s family home.

• These cultural and religious traditions are often tied to geographic norms.

• In Northern and Western India, for example, patriarchal and patrilineal family systems are more dominant than in other parts of India, particularly the South.

Factors affecting sex selective abortions

• Fertility and birth order also play an important role in these choices.

• Families who are planning to have just one or two children may be more inclined to abort a female to ensure having at least one son.

• NFHS data shows that women who are wealthier and more educated are less likely to favor having sons.

• Factors like education, wealth and urbanicity can make it easier for a woman to get access to (and pay for) an ultrasound test or other prenatal sex screening.