The Influence of Social Factors Upon the Sex-Ratio at Birth

Dados Bibliográficos

ID2198002
AutoresSanford Winston (autor correspondente)
Ano1931
Volume37
Fascículo1
Páginas1-21
Data de publicação1931-07-01
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessNão
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoAmerican Journal of Sociology (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0002-9602 • E-ISSN: 1537-5390
EditoraUniversity of Chicago Press (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1086/215616
OpenAlexW2020629360
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas21

The ratio of the sexes at birth is remarkably constant for various countries over long periods of time for populations as a whole. Data are presented to show that the sex-ratio at conception is significantly higher than sex-ratio at birth. The lesser percentage of males at birth than at conception is accounted for by a differential prenatal mortality bearing more heavily upon the male fetus than upon the female fetus. Thus the sex-ratio at birth is a function of the sex-ratio at conception and the sex-ratio of intrauterine mortality. Various lines of approach are utilized to prove that social factors affect the amount of prenatal mortality and finally the sex-ratio at birth. A group of 5,466 completed families, forming a "higher" social class, are utilized to test the general hypothesis. They show a significantly higher sex-ratio at birth than does the general population. The conclusion is reached that more desirable social environments are important factors tending to raise the sex-ratio at birth. As such environments become more general, they will operate in the direction of a higher proportion of male births

Biology · Birth weight · Fetus · Obstetrics · Population · Pregnancy · Sex ratio · Sociology · Demographic Trends and Gender Preferences · Demography · Global Maternal and Child Health · Medicine · Poverty, Education, and Child Welfare · Psychology