Effect of the War on the Sex Ratio at Birth
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 4806953 |
|---|---|
| Authors | R J Myers, Rebbeca Myers (corresponding author) |
| Year | 1947 |
| Volume | 12 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 40 |
| Publication date | 1947-02-01 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | American Sociological Review (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0003-1224 • E-ISSN: 1939-8271 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.2307/2086488 |
| OpenAlex | W2332068634 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 3 |
A WIDESPREAD popular belief is held that during wartime there are considerably more males born than females. During peace years there are slightly more males, the sex ratio at birth customarily being about I055, or in other words for every thousand girl babies there are I055 boys. This paper will examine the latest available data for the war years I94245; a complete analysis involving the postwar years cannot be made for perhaps 5 years. It has been shown that during the two decades between the World Wars the sex ratio at birth in this country showed no significant variance when the important factor of varying race proportion in the registration areas was considered.' For white persons the sex ratio at birth during the peacetime years averaged about io6o (i.e., io6o males per iooo females), while that for nonwhites was approximately I030. During the First World War and shortly thereafter the sex ratio at birth in certain European countries rose significantly from a statistical viewpoint but not from a layman's viewpoint although in the United States the limited available data indicated no significant variation. Thus, for Germany the ratio was i064 for I9I5-i8, I075 for I919-20, and I070 for I92I-23, with the corresponding figures for the United Kingdom being I047, I055, and I048, respectively.2 In other words, the middle period showed about a i per cent increase over the two end ones, which were closely in line with previous and subsequent experience. The man on the street would not view this rise as significant, but for such a stable element as sex ratio at birth professional statisticians found significance present. However
Population · Sex ratio · Sociology · Demographic Trends and Gender Preferences · Demography · Global Maternal and Child Health · Migration and Labor Dynamics · Psychology
| Citations per year | 0.05 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 1969 - 2021 (53) |
| Highly cited | No |