Despite China’s impressive economic achievements, the country’s elderly women suffer disproportionate poverty rates, the incidence of female suicide is rising, and the skewed gender balance among newborns will have severe future demographic consequences, according to a United Nations re port.
The development picture for women is also mixed. Gender gaps are widening, and the aging of Chinese society is posing an increasing challenge because the elderly are disproportionately poor and female, with widows and unmarried, childless women among the most economically vulnerable.
The widely noted increase in the margin of newborn boys over girls "has serious implications for the future," the report warns. Sexual predetermination of newborns is illegal in China, but wide spread and the government estimates that the sex ratio is about 116 boys for every 100 girls.
"The shortage of women will have enormous implications on China’s social, economic and development future. In the next decade, we could have as many as 60 million missing women. People are exercising their preferences, but the consequences for society are huge."
These challenges are by no means unique to China and countries must work together to resolve them.