Patrilineality, Son Preference, and Sex Selection in South Korea and Vietnam

Recent advances in promoting the rights of women and girls globally have been partially offset by increasing implementation of son preference through offspring sex selection, leading to rising sex ratios at birth1 (SRB) and child sex ratios throughout Asia, as well as parts of Eastern Europe and Africa. The past two decades have seen the number of countries with high child sex ratios increase from five to nineteen (Hudson and den Boer 2015). In recent history, only one country has reduced its sex ratio at birth from extremely high levels to biologically normal levels: South Korea, from a peak of 116.5 males per 100 females in 1990 to 106.2 in 2007. While South Korea's sex ratio at birth was declining throughout the early to mid 2000s, the sex ratio at birth in another Asian country, Vietnam, began an erratic rise, reaching 113.8 in 2013 (see Figure 1). How can we explain this recent rise in Vietnam's sex ratio, and are there lessons for Vietnam, or for other countries facing high sex ratios at birth, from the experience of South Korea

Infant and young child feeding practices differ by ethnicity of Vietnamese mothers

BACKGROUND: Limited studies have examined ethnic variation in breastfeeding and complementary feeding practices in developing countries. This study investigated ethnic variation in feeding practices in mothers with children 0–23 months old in Vietnam. METHODS: We used data on 1875 women who came from the ethnic majority, Kinh (n = 989, randomly sampled from 9875 surveyed Kinh mothers, 10 % from each province) and three ethnic minorities: E De-Mnong (n = 309), Thai-Muong (n = 229) and Tay-Nung (n = 348). Ethnic minorities were compared with the Kinh group using logistic regression model. RESULTS: Prevalence of breastfeeding initiation within an hour of birth was 69 % in Thai-Muong, but ~50 % in other ethnicities. In logistic regression, the prevalence of breastfeeding within one hour was lower in Tay-Nung (OR: 0.54; 95 % CI: 0.38, 0.77) than the majority Kinh. Prevalence of exclusive breastfeeding under 6 months was 18, 10, 17, and 33 % in Kinh, Thai-Muong, Tay-Nung, and E De-Mnong, respectively; compared to the majority Kinh, the prevalence was lower in Thai-Muong (OR: 0.42; 95 % CI: 0.25, 0.71) and higher in E De-Mnong (OR: 1.99; 95 % CI: 1.04, 3.82). Overall prevalence of bottle feeding in Thai-Muong and E De-Mnong (~20 %) was lower than in Kinh (~33 %): Thai-Muong (OR: 0.50; 95 % CI: 0.37, 0.68) and E De-Mnong (OR: 0.69; 95 % CI: 0.50, 0.95). Compared with Kinh (75 %), fewer ethnic minority children received minimum acceptable diets (33 % in Thai-Muong, 46 % in E De-Mnong, and 52 % in Tay-Nung; P < 0.05). Prevalence of minimum acceptable diet (met both dietary frequency and diversity) was lower in Thai-Muong (OR: 0.23; 95 % CI: 0.11, 0.46), Tay-Nung (OR: 0.52; 95 % CI: 0.39, 0.69), and E De-Mnong (OR: 0.55; 95 % CI: 0.33, 0.89) than the majority Kinh. CONCLUSIONS: Breastfeeding practices were suboptimal and differed by ethnicity, which suggests need for tailored interventions at multiple levels to address ethnic-specific challenges and norms. Complementary feeding practices were less optimal among ethnic minorities compared to Kinh, which suggests need for broad intervention including improved food availability, accessibility, and security. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12884-016-0995-8) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users

Factors associated with antenatal care adequacy in rural and urban contexts-results from two health and demographic surveillance sites in Vietnam

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Antenatal Care (ANC) is universally considered important for women and children. This study aims to identify factors, demographic, social and economic, possibly associated with three ANC indicators: number of visits, timing of visits and content of services. The aim is also to compare the patterns of association of such factors between one rural and one urban context in northern Vietnam.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Totally 2,132 pregnant women were followed from identification of pregnancy until birth in two Health and Demographic Surveillance Sites (HDSS). Information was obtained through quarterly face to face interviews.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Living in the rural area was significantly associated with lower adequate use of ANC compared to living in the urban area, both regarding quantity (number and timing of visits) and content. Low education, living in poor households and exclusively using private sector ANC in both sites and self employment, becoming pregnant before 25 years of age and living in poor communities in the rural area turned out to increase the risk for overall inadequate ANC. High risk pregnancy could not be demonstrated to be associated with ANC adequacy in either site. The medical content of services offered was often inadequate, in relation to the national recommendations, especially in the private sector.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Low education, low economic status, exclusive use of private ANC and living in rural areas were main factors associated with risk for overall inadequate ANC use as related to the national recommendations. Therefore, interventions focussing on poor and less educated women, especially in rural areas should be prioritized. They should focus the importance of early attendance of ANC and sufficient use of core services. Financial support for poor and near poor women should be considered. Providers of ANC should be educated and otherwise influenced to provide sufficient core services. Adherence to ANC content guidelines must be improved through enhanced supervision, particularly in the private sector.</p

Does Gender Influence the Provision of Fringe Benefits? Evidence From Vietnamese SMEs

This contribution studies the provision of fringe benefits using a unique survey of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Vietnam. Analysis of the survey reveals that women who own SMEs are more likely than men who own similar firms to provide employees with fringe benefits such as annual leave, social benefits, and health insurance. This gender effect exists especially with regard to mandatory social insurance and is robust to the inclusion of standard determinants of wage compensation. The study also explores whether this finding is linked to gender differences in social networks and workforce structure, worker recruitment mechanisms, and the degree of unionization. However, these factors cannot fully account for the observed differences in fringe benefits along the “gender of owner” dimension. There remains a sizable and unexplained fringe benefits premium paid to employees in women-owned firms.Gender, fringe benefits, Vietnam, JEL Codes: J16, J31, O53,