Female Demographic Disadvantage in India 1981±1991: Sex Selective Abortions and Female Infanticide S. Sudha and S. Irudaya Rajan ABSTRACT Using evidence from a number of sources (including the 1981 and 1991 censuses of India, prior research, and NGO reports), this article examines whether bias against girl children persists during periods of development and fertility decline, whether prenatal sex selection has spread in India as elsewhere in Asia, and whether female vs. male child mortality risks have changed. The authors present estimated period sex ratios at birth (SRBs) calculated by reverse survival methods along with reported sex ratios among infants aged 0 and 1, as well as sex ratios of child mortality probabilities (q5), from the two censuses. The ®ndings show an increase in `masculine' SRBs and persistent (or even worsening) female mortality disadvantage, despite overall mortality decline, due to selective neglect and the spread of female infanticide practices in some areas. Research and reports indicate the increasing use of prenatal sex selection in some regions. In India, preference for sons appears to be undiminished by socio-economic development, which interacts with cultural sources of male bias. The increased masculinity of period SRBs in some areas, together with persistent excess female child mortality and female infanticide, creates a `double jeopardy' for girl children. Legislation curbing prenatal sex determination and policy measures addressing societal female devaluation have had little impact, suggesting that female demographic disadvantage is unlikely to improve in the near future. INTRODUCTION Highlighted by sensational titles such as `The Endangered Sex' (Miller, 1981) or `More than 100 million women are missing' (Sen, 1992), studies have long pointed to the unfavourable life chances of females versus males in parts of East and South Asia. This female disadvantage is particularly concentrated in infancy and childhood years, and is rooted in long-standing social patterns of preference for male children. Practices regulating the numbers of female Development and Change Vol. 30 (1999), 585±618. # Institute of Social Studies 1999. Published by Blackwell Publishers Ltd, 108 Cowley Rd, Oxford OX4 1JF, UK. This is a revised version of Working Paper No.288 of the Centre for Development Studies, Thiruvananthapuram. It has been presented at the CDS-UNRISD Workshop on Gender, Poverty and Well-being, Centre for Development Studies, Thiruvananthapuram (24±7 November 1997), and at the T. N. Krishnan Memorial Seminar, Centre for Development Studies, Thiruvanantha- puram (7±9 September 1997).