Child sex ratio

Polity & Governance glossary

Also called: CSR · Topic: Gender, Religion and Caste in Politics · NCERT: Class 10, Ch 3 "Gender, Religion and Caste"

Meaning

Child sex ratio (CSR) is the number of girls for every 1,000 boys aged 0-6, as counted by the Census. It matters because a falling CSR shows that girls are either not being born or not living to age six. Survival is the first gap women face, before school, jobs or pay.

Explanation

How it is measured

  • Formula: (number of girls aged 0-6 ÷ number of boys aged 0-6) × 1,000.
  • Source: the Census, which counts every person in India. The CSR therefore uses the full population, not a sample.
  • Reading the figure:
  • A figure of 1,000 would mean equal numbers of girls and boys.
  • A figure below 1,000 means fewer girls than boys.

  • The further it falls, the more girls are "missing".

  • Why 0-6 years: the figure picks up two problems together:

  • girls who are never born (sex-selective abortion), and
  • girls who die young after birth (neglect).

The trend: a steady fall

Census Child sex ratio
1991 945
2001 927
2011 918 (NCERT: 919)
  • The CSR fell in every Census from 1991 to 2011.
  • The worst states in 2011 were Haryana (834) and Punjab (846). Both are in north-west India.
  • NCERT's map shows some states below 850 and some districts even below 800.
  • The fall came while incomes and literacy were rising. So poverty alone does not explain it. Son preference is a deeper social problem.

Why girls go missing: the causes

  • Son preference: families want sons because they:
  • inherit property and carry the family name,

  • are expected to support parents in old age. Families also fear the cost of a daughter's dowry.

  • Sex-selective abortion (ending a pregnancy because the foetus is female):

  • Ultrasound scans made it easy to find out the sex of a foetus.

  • Technology made an old preference much easier to act on.

  • Neglect after birth:

  • Girls may get less food, less medical care and fewer vaccinations.

  • So more girls than boys die before age six.

  • "Missing women" (Amartya Sen, 1990): the millions of women who should be alive, given normal birth and death rates, but are not. Sen blamed sex-selective abortion, neglect of girls and unequal care.

Limits of the measure

  • It comes only once every ten years. The last Census figure is from 2011. Caste is to be counted in the 2027 Census (verify current), which will also give a fresh CSR.
  • It does not show which cause is at work. For that, look at the sex ratio at birth, which counts only births.
  • NCERT and the Census figures differ slightly for 2011 (919 and 918). Both appear in exams.

In the Constitution and practice

  • Constitutional base:
  • Article 15(3) allows the State to make special provisions for women and children. Laws and schemes to protect the girl child rest on this.

  • Women have voted from the start (1950) under universal adult franchise (every adult can vote, whatever their sex, caste, wealth or education). But equal votes have not brought equal survival.

  • PCPNDT Act 1994 (Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques Act):

  • It bans telling anyone the sex of a foetus.
  • It controls the use of scanning machines.

  • It is the main legal tool against sex-selective abortion.

  • Beti Bachao Beti Padhao (2015) ("Save the daughter, educate the daughter") is a Union scheme to improve the CSR and girls' education.

  • How it has worked in practice:
  • The PCPNDT Act came in 1994, yet the CSR kept falling in the 2001 and 2011 Censuses.

  • The gap is weak enforcement: scans are done in secret, and few cases reach court.

  • Global link: the Global Gender Gap Index of the World Economic Forum has a "health and survival" part that counts the sex ratio at birth. India's score on this part is pulled down by its skewed sex ratio at birth.

  • Link to representation: survival gaps like this are one reason women ask for more political seats. Women's reservation came in the 73rd and 74th Amendments (1992) for local bodies and the 106th Amendment (2023) for the Lok Sabha and state assemblies.

Don't confuse with

  • Overall sex ratio: females per 1,000 males of all ages. NFHS-5 (2019-21) puts it at 1,020. It is high because women live longer, so it hides the problem among young girls.
  • Sex ratio at birth (SRB): girls born per 1,000 boys born. NFHS-5 (2019-21) puts it at 929. It shows only sex selection before birth. The CSR also shows deaths up to age six.
  • Gender Inequality Index (GII): a UNDP index with 3 dimensions (reproductive health, empowerment, labour market). It does not include a sex-ratio measure. The Global Gender Gap Index (WEF) does, in its health and survival part.
  • "Missing women": Amartya Sen's idea (1990) about women who should be alive but are not. It is not a Census measure like the CSR.

Prelims Hooks

  • Child sex ratio = girls per 1,000 boys aged 0-6, measured by the Census.
  • Census trend: 945 (1991), then 927 (2001), then 918 (2011; NCERT gives 919). It fell in every Census.
  • Lowest states in 2011: Haryana (834) and Punjab (846).
  • Trap: NFHS-5's overall sex ratio is 1,020, but its sex ratio at birth is 929. Neither is the child sex ratio, and 1,020 does not mean the problem is solved.
  • PCPNDT Act 1994 bans revealing the sex of a foetus. Beti Bachao Beti Padhao was launched in 2015.
  • "Missing women" is Amartya Sen's term, from 1990.

Mains Points

  • A social problem, not just a poverty problem: the CSR fell from 945 (1991) to 918 (2011) while incomes and literacy rose. The worst figures were in richer states such as Haryana and Punjab. So:
  • economic growth alone will not fix it;

  • attitudes must change, for example by giving daughters an equal share in inheritance and ending dowry.

  • Good law, weak enforcement: the PCPNDT Act has existed since 1994, but the CSR kept falling. Reform needs:

  • strict checks on scanning centres and real punishment for doctors who break the law;

  • schemes like Beti Bachao Beti Padhao that link girls' survival with their education.

  • Survival before empowerment: a girl who is not born or does not live cannot go to school, work or vote. More women in power, through the 73rd and 74th Amendments (1992) and the 106th Amendment (2023), can put girls' health and survival on the political agenda.

Related concepts

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Sources

  1. 1Class 10, Ch 3 "Gender, Religion and Caste" (primary)