SEX COMPOSITION

SEX COMPOSITION

Defined as the number of females per 1000 males in the population, sex ratio is an important social indicator of the equity prevailing between males and females at a given point of time. Factors influencing the sex ratio are, mainly, the differentials in mortality, sex selective migra­tion, sex ratio at birth and, at times, the sex differential in population enumeration.

It is interesting to note that rural-urban differentials in sex ratios in the US and in Western European countries are just the opposite of those in developing countries, such as India. In developing countries, the males outnumber the females in urban areas and the females outnumber the males in rural areas. In the western countries, reverse is the case. There farming in rural areas remains largely a masculine occupa1ion. In the western countries, 'there is an influx of females from rural areas to avail of the vast employment opportunities in urban areas.