Social Sciences in China, 2021

Vol. 42, No. 2, 2021

 

Women’s Political Status and the Sex Ratio at Birth: An Empirical Study Based on 1950-2020 County-Level Data

(Abstract)

 

You Wuyue and Yao Yang

 

Women’s emancipation is an important part of the people’s liberation movement led by the Communist Party of China. Improving women’s political status is the basic condition for improving their social welfare rights and interests. Based on the data from county gazetteers covering more than 1,700 counties, the censuses of 1990 and 2000, and other representative surveys, we conducted an empirical study on the long-term effect of women’s political status on the sex ratio at birth. Our research found that the higher the ratio of female Communist Party members in each county in 1950, the more normal was the sex ratio at birth in the following 50 years. The improved political status of women aged 16-20 significantly raised the proportion of girls among surviving children, especially in the era of family planning. This demographic study provides empirical historical evidence for the first time on one aspect of the long-term social impact of the mission of the Chinese people’s liberation.

 

Keywords: Chinese revolution, women’s liberation, women’s political status, sex ratio at birth