Vietnam: no problem with birth gender inequality

What do you think about the recent information about birth gender inequality among newborns, which has reached alarming levels in some provinces?

The ‘rational’ ratio of boys to girls is around 105-107/100. However, in some areas, this ratio has been reported at 130-150/100, even 189/100 in Da Nang in 2003-2004.

This ratio, if correct, is almost apocalyptic. Yet it is difficult to believe these figures, because the country with the most serious problem with birth gender inequality in the world - China, has a rate of 119/100.

To learn more about the situation, the Institute for Population Sciences, Family & Children conducted surveys in the six provinces that recorded highest inequality in birth ratio. They found the figures were closer to 113-114/100, which is also high, but is lower than reports.

How could such a large margin of error occur?

The reason lies in the backward point of view of the public, and with the qualification of census analysts. Many families believe, due to traditions of rampant male chauvinism, a baby girl won’t bring happiness to the family, so they do not bother to even register the birth of a daughter until a birth certificate becomes an absolute necessity for the child.

Also, census workers are so poorly qualified that they often mistake gender based o­n name. Many modern girls’ names don’t include ‘Thi’, so registration staff may mistake them for boys.

(Traditionally, names included Thi for girls and Van for boys, as a bridge between family and given names)

Is it true that determining the sex of an unborn child by ultrasound, and subsequent termination, is a leading reason in gender birth inequality?

Though most pregnant women will have an ultrasound as a standard healthcare procedure, and will most likely know the sex of the unborn child in advance, abortion due to gender is not suitable to the tradition of Vietnam.

The tradition and the sense of morals in Vietnam prevent people from doing that. We interviewed people in the above-mentioned six provinces whether they knew of any such cases, and it proved very rare.

So what is the reason, in your opinion?

Perhaps many parents applied measures to have a child of the sex they desire. According to our survey, up to 20% of the parents interviewed said they knew some measures. Though we don’t know the real effects of those measures, some of them are based o­n ‘sciences’.

What about the influence of gender birth inequality in the above provinces compared to the balance of the whole nation?

Gender inequality among newborn babies is o­ne of the down sides of the policy o­n population growth reduction. This situation arises in countries with stern reduction policies, for instance in China.

In Vietnam, provinces with the highest rates of inequality are those that stick closely to family planning policy. Nevertheless, the situation is not of great concern, because these provinces don’t represent the whole country.

Even if some provinces have an inequality rate of 114/100, general risk of widespread inequality not high, because the ratio is within acceptable limits in most of other provinces. It is also very low in some others, creating a general balance.

According to the census 1999, the boy/girl birth ratio was 105.2/100. Other local surveys around the same time gave slightly higher returns but the margin of error in these surveys was higher than that of the census.

In recent years, surveys of annual population change show that the gender balance among newborn babies is nearly unchanged, so we believe that the ratio is in balance.