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

Abstract

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.

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