Boys are more important than girls

Asia is the most populous of all continents. Especially in China and India it is a big problem that the population keeps growing

The growing amount of people means that it is difficult to provide room and food for everyone. The more children that are born, there more room it takes to provide housing - and the less space there is for agriculture.

Boys are the "life insurance" of their families

In poor families in Asia, it is often the children who must provide for their parents when the parents get old. Even though it is the girls who work hardest, it is the boys and the men who are regarded as the "life insurance" of their families.

Therefore many families celebrate when they get a son; while it is often considered a big misfortune to get a girl.

Girls cost

One of the reasons that it is perceived such a misfortune to get a girl is the widespread tradition of dowry in many Asian countries. Dowry is the amount of money or goods that a family has to pay to their son-in-law's family when their daughter gets married and move to live with her new husband and his family.

The worth of a dowry can vary from everything between offering a cow, some furniture to plain money. Since many families do not own much, it means that a family knows when getting a baby girl that it will be almost impossible for them to get her married. At worst, it sometimes happens that a family kills their newborn baby girl.

Only one child in China

In China, the government has introduced a one-baby-policy.  To avoid population growth families are only allowed to get one child in the big cities.

Find more information about China: http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/china.html.