The sex ratio at birth ‘is the number of males born compared to 100 females’. Worldwide there are nearly 49% more boys than girls. Although this sounds like a lot, it is necessary to maintain population levels and avoid extinction. Nearly one in five people worldwide is between the ages of 15 and 30, and a third is below 21. Women slightly outnumber men at younger ages, but not at older ages. More than half of the world’s 1 billion people over age 60 are women. By 2030, the number of people around the globe over age 60 is expected to increase to 1.5 billion. Female life expectancy is greater than male life expectancy almost everywhere in the world.
The effects of a finite sex ratio are more pronounced on women because, unlike men, they cannot reproduce themselves without the help of another human. In China and India, the countries with the most contribution to the world’s sex ratio, there is sometimes as few as one baby boy for every four baby girls born. This means fewer potential mates for women when they reach an age where they want to get married and have children. Except for Europe, which has a less imbalanced ratio, and is more egalitarian, the male to female sex ratio for the world is 109 males to 100 females. In contrast, when measured by proxy indicators such as economic activity or education there is a much higher incidence of gender ratio discrepancy. This is because males are both more likely to die at an earlier age and more likely to leave school before completing their education.
Women are treated as second-class citizens in many regions. Single female parents are marginalized as well. In many countries, women and their daughters face honor killings and early marriage. These harsh conditions make it hard for women to find a suitable mate. Because of this gender imbalance, more women are forced to marry men they are not interested in because the chance of finding another man who will consent to marry them is very low. The discrimination that is shown towards women in these countries is actually what’s causing many other problems such as the higher suicide rate among women, lower psycho-social health, etc.
If we want to fix the problem, it’s essential to understand what’s causing it. There is a popular misconception that it’s the wealthy, modern, first-world nations (the US, UK, Canada, and Australia) which have these gender issues. That’s not true: as countries become wealthier, they tend to show a larger imbalance in favor of boys.