Girl - Demographics

Demographics

Slightly more boys are born than girls (in the US this ratio is about 105 boys born for every 100 girls), but girls are slightly less likely to die than boys, during childhood, so that the ratio for under 15 years of age is 104 boys for every 100 girls. Since the 18th century the human sex ratio has been observed as about 1,050 boys for every 1,000 girls born and sex selection on the part of parents further lessens the number of female births.

While patriarchal beliefs have led to female infanticide (the killing of female infants) since ancient times, it is a persistent practice in some regions of the world today. It is a significant problem in India and China in particular. The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) State of the World Population Report indicates that these practices, combined with neglect, have resulted in at least 60 million "missing" girls in Asia. Large numbers of adult women are absent from the population in some regions, a consequence of female infanticide during recent decades.

Census information shows the problem is worsening. In India overall, by 2011, there were little more than 9 girls younger than 6 years old for every 10 boys. The 2011 census showed that the ratio of girls to boys under the age of 6 years old has dropped even during the past decade, from 927 girls for every 1000 boys in 2001 to 918 girls for every 1000 boys in 2011. Maharashtra state's ratio is 883 girls, and Satara is even lower at 881. Hospitals in India are banned from giving out the gender of an unborn fetus to prevent sex-selection abortions, although evidence indicates that the information is often revealed. Steven Mosher, president of the Population Research Institute in Washington, D.C. has said: "Twenty-five million men in China currently can’t find brides because there is a shortage of women young men emigrate overseas to find brides." The gender imbalance in these regions is also blamed for spurring growth in the commercial sex trade; the UN's 2005 report states that up to 800,000 people being trafficked across borders each year, and as many as 80 percent are women and girls.