Auspicious years, the birth of girls, and their birth outcomes

Abstract

The literature suggests that parents intentionally time births, with one example being the increase in births during auspicious years according to Chinese cultural beliefs. We examine births, particularly those of girls, in 2007, a year considered auspicious in South Korea as the Year of the Golden Pig in the Chinese zodiac. In that year, the total number of births in the country surged by 10 %, reaching 496,677 compared to 453,170 in the previous year, before decreasing to 460,480 the following year. This increase suggests that having a baby, regardless of sex, was prioritized over having a boy in a country with a tradition of son preference, indicating that girls who might otherwise have been aborted were born. We found that in 2007, there was a 1 percentage point increase in the number of girls born in regions with a son-preferring culture. Additionally, girls born in 2007 weighed less compared to those born in previous years, suggesting that some may not have received adequate prenatal care.