Gender imbalance – a serious issue in Vietnam
VOV.VN - Vietnam faces a significantly imbalanced sex ratio at birth (SRB) which could mean that by the year 2034, approximately 1.5 million men will not be able to marry, and the figure is expected to increase to 2.5 million by 2059.
Marking Vietnamese Population Day in Hanoi on December 26, Nguyen Doan Tu, head of the General Office for Population and Family Planning under the Ministry of Health, said the Vietnamese population has reached more than 99 million this year, but the gender imbalance is on the rise and is likely to be sustained for the years to come, with the SRB increasing in both urban and rural areas.
The country initially controlled sex imbalance at birth, with the sex ratio at birth being 104 to 106 boys / 100 girls. However, this year’s figure is estimated to be at 113.7 boys per 100 girls, failing to reach a set target of 111.4 boys per 100 girls.
According to data compiled by the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), the nation’s SRB was ranked third in Asia, behind only China and India.
Tu attributed this situation to a number of factors, including a preference for boys among families, inefficient social security policies, and the advent of sex-selective technology.
Sex selective abortion remains a pressing issue and will likely exist in the future, he stressed.
The consequences of having too many males and a shortage of females of marrying and childbearing age, as well as discrimination and sexual violence, are far-reaching.
Tu also suggested that the implementation of population policies and awareness-raising campaigns are key to resolving these issues.
Furthermore, a decrease in the birth rate is another challenge which will eventually impact the proportion of young people and working adults in the future, as well as the amount of elderly people increasing.
This year saw Vietnam’s birth rate on average stand at 2.01 children per women of reproductive age. The rate is different in localities across the country, with the birth rate of 1.4 children per women in Ho Chi Minh City, Dong Thap, and Ba Ria-Vung Tau provinces, increasingly to nearly two children per women in Ha Tinh and Nghe An provinces.
Tu explained that the pressure of life and work has resulted in late marriage, late childbirth, fewer children, and a growing reluctance to have children.
He said that immediate measures should be carried out in a bid to tackle the matter or else the fertility rate will continue to fall even more.