Some four million men in Vietnam will have no opportunity of getting married by 2050 if the current imbalance in the nation’s sex ratio persists, said experts.
According to the Hanoi Population and Family Planning Department, the capital city’s boy-to-girl ratio at birth in the first nine months of this year remained high at 113.6:100.
Seven districts with the highest boy-to-girl ratios at birth are Son Tay (131.9:100), Ung Hoa (130.1:100), Me Linh (123.6:100), Ba Vi (121.9:100), Phu Xuyen (121.3:100), Thach That (120.9:100) and Soc Son (120.3:100).
Similar imbalances nationwide will lead to a shortage of women, which means that by 2050, 2.3 to 4.3 million men in Vietnam will have no chance of finding wives, the General Directorate of Population and Family Planning estimates.
AFP
Population experts have warned that the gender imbalance can lead to an increase in the trafficking of women and children, prostitution and the spread of sexually transmitted diseases like HIV or Aids.
The imbalance in sex ratio at birth and a preference for sons have become a pressing issue in the country.
Since it is common practice that women live with their husbands’ families after getting married, the understanding is that daughters are eventually “lost” for good.
Hence, without a son, there will be no one to take care of parents when they get old.
The New Paper
Do Viet Hung, director of the Centre of Population and Family Planning in Son Tay town, said the hard, exhausting labour required in the fields was the underlying reason for the preference for sons in suburban areas.
Moreover, as 70 per cent of the rural population do not get any pension from the State, they feel insecure about not having a son to look after them when they get old.
The preference for sons is so deep-rooted that several measures taken in recent years to tackle gender imbalance, including increasing awareness of family planning, are still facing several obstacles.
Nevertheless, Mr Hung said more people should be informed of the consequences of gender imbalance, as well as of the Population Ordinance issued by the National Assembly Standing Committee in 2003, which forbids gender selection of foetuses.
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