(June 15) — Sifting through United States census data, two Columbia University professors came across a surprising trend — a significantly higher proportion of boys being born to Americans of Chinese, Indian and Korean descent.
Demographers believe that the statistical difference arises from a preference for male children -- and a growing tendency for such families to use sex-selection techniques and abortion, The New York Times reported.
"That this is going on in the United States — people were blown away by this," said Lena Edlund, one of the Columbia professors.
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Take a look at the statistics, from the 2000 census, as broken down by The Times:
· Ratio of boys to girls born in the U.S.: 1.05 to 1
· Ratio of boys to girls born to Chinese, Korean or Indian couples if their first child was a girl: 1.17 to 1
· Ratio of boys to girls born to such couples if their first two children were girls:
1.51 to 1
1.51 to 1
To see how the trend has emerged over time, check out this chart.
What's behind the trend? The Times suggested that a cultural preference for boys lives on among some groups who immigrate to the United States.
"Inheritance in the old country is carried through the male line," said Joyce Moy, executive director of the Asian American/Asian Research Institute of the City University of New York. "Families depend on the male child for support."
The newspaper also interviewed one Chinese immigrant couple who considered abortion when they kept having girls instead of boys. For more, read the full story in The Times.
