Marriage Squeeze in China's Future Articles uri icon

publication date

  • November 2011

start page

  • 177

end page

  • 193

issue

  • 3

volume

  • 7

International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)

  • 1744-1730

Electronic International Standard Serial Number (EISSN)

  • 1744-1749

abstract

  • The preference for sons in China and discrimination against girls have resulted in a male marriage squeeze. This paper develops two new indices of the sex ratio among potential first marriage partners by normalising first marriage frequencies and by eliminating the tempo effect in first marriage. Using two newly developed indices and two existing ones, the authors predict China's marriage squeeze for the period 2000&-2100. The authors find that the new indices produce almost the same results as the existing ones when measuring the sex ratios of marriageable males to females. For the years 2015 to 2050, the sex ratio of potential males to females is over 1.15, and then fluctuates around 1.1 after 2060. From 2015 to 2045, China will face an annual surplus of one million males. However, if the high sex ratio at birth cannot be controlled, the male marriage squeeze will be much more severe.