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Infanticide. Abigail Hayworth, the author of an article titled, "The Baby We Can't Ignore" in Marie Claire (June 2001:72-73) was very upset at the picture to the left. At the beginning of her article, she states:
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Abigail Hayworth, the author of an article titled, "The Baby We Can't Ignore" in Marie Claire (June 2001:72-73) was very upset at the picture to the left. At the beginning of her article, she states: "This picture is deeply shocking, but we feel that such contempt for life must be brought to your attention. A newborn baby lies dead in the street, discarded like a piece of trash to the indifference of passersby. She is just another heartbreaking victim of China's ruthless one-child policy."
Pro-life advocates would agree with Hayworth, but believe that the abortion of the 19-week-old fetus to the right shows just as much "contempt for life" as does infanticide in China. What anthropological explanation might there be for why the majority of Americans reject infanticide but accept abortion?
The reasons why women choose to have an abortion in the U.S. are not that different from the reasons why people practice infanticide in other societies. They largely involve the practical considerations associated with the cost of having a child.
Compared to other industrial societies, the U.S. has a very high pregnancy rate. It also has a very high abortion rate, which results in a fertility rate about half the pregnancy rate.
The next two slides show that the bulk of abortions in the U.S. are performed on poor, single, young and disproportionately minority women, underscoring the economic considerations influencing the decision to have an abortion.
Neither Pro-choice nor Pro-life advocates can claim the undisputed moral upper hand. As the table to the right shows, established religious denominations can be found on both sides of the issue. In fact, the two largest religious denominations are officially Pro-life. Abortion is clearly still a controversial issue in the U.S.
The following letters to the editor in the Philadelphia Inquirer (November 21, 1996), written in response to the Grossberg-Peterson infanticide killings, illustrate the ambiguous line separating abortion from infanticide.
Late-Term Abortion Partial-Term Abortion
Australian Aborigines Australian aboriginal societies removed on average every child above the desired number of three per family. This resulted in an estimated infanticide rate of between 20 – 40% of live births. Adult Pre-Contact M/F Sex Ratios were 150/100, based on geneological data.
To understand the “cost” of having a baby among the Ju/’hoansi, we need to know how much a child weighs at different ages. This is the cost that the woman must bear if she has to carry her children while foraging for food.
If you multiply the weight of the child by the distance that a woman travels, you can establish an operational definition of the cost that a woman must pay for having one or more children.
This table shows how much weight in the form of a child that a woman must carry if she gives birth to a child every four years.
This table shows how much weight in the form of children a woman must carry, depending on how frequently she has children.
Using the information on the previous tables, one can see how much the cost of having a child increases as the frequency of having children increases.
The cost of having children decreases substantially among those Ju/’hoansi who have settled down to farming compared to those who are nomadic. At the same time, the benefits of having children increases. Thus, we see a decrease in the birth interval among settled Ju/’hoansi and an increase in the total number of children a settled Ju/’hoansi woman has.
Inuit Infanticide Franz Boas: Netsilik Sex Ratio (1902) 138 boys and 66 girls = 209 males / 100 females _____________________________________________ Rasmussen: Netsilik (1923) --96 births in 18 marriages / 38 girls killed --Adult Population: 150 males / 109 females _____________________________________________
Yanomamo Sex Ratio Data (Male/Female) Age Group Central Villages Peripheral Villages 0 – 14 157 / 100 126 / 100 all ages 130 / 100 115 / 100 _____________________________________________ Explanation: preferential female infanticide, followed by differential male mortality in warfare
Study of 160 Chinese Women over 50 Total Fertility = 631 sons / 538 daughters M / F = 117 / 100 158 females had been killed / 0 males Subsequent Sex Ratio M / F = 166 / 100 __________________________________________
Japan Birth control techniques used: 1. Abortion (chemical and mechanical) 2. Infanticide --preferred by rural peasants a. 10 – 25% of live births b. less risky c. allowed removal of defectives d. facilitated manipulation of sex ratio
Japanese Sex Ratios 1750: 1000 males / 876 females M/F ratio = 114/100 ______________________________________ Japanese sex ratios declined steadily, but did not achieve parity until1950. _______________________________________ In 1750, Japan was an agricultural society. * * * * * By 1950, Japan was a major industrial power.
Infanticide Must be Understood as Part of a Family’s Overall Family Planning Behavior. • The decision regarding how many children a couple will have is determined by a variety of considerations. • Understanding the Cost/Benefit considerations that a couple faces is a powerful predictor of fertility behavior. • 3. This includes not only the number of children a family will produce, but also the sex of those children.
Many social scientists view child neglect and child abuse as a form of delayed infanticide and claim that it occurs not only in rural pre-industrial societies, but within technologically advanced industrial societies as well. Some have even begun to question how many SIDS deaths may actually be cases of infanticide.
Infant mortality rates are very high in many under-developed countries, making it difficult to be assured of having many children survive to adulthood.
Even the worst cities for infant mortality in the U.S. have only a fraction of the infant mortality rates that are common throughout much of the Third World.
Children are an important productive resource in pre-industrial farming communities.
Parents throughout the world, most notably rural farmers and the urban poor in developing countries, depend heavily on their children when they get old.
Cost of Children in U.S. (Price Waterhouose for New York Times) New York City: married professional couple with one child under age 4. One PaycheckTwo Paychecks Income: Husband: $70,000 Husband: $70,000 Wife: 50,000 Total Income: $70,000 $120,000 Taxes: Federal, State, Local, Soc. Sec. Total Taxes: $21,848 $44,534 Additional Expenses: Child Care, Work Clothing, Commuting, Lunches/coffee $21,385 Total Expenses: $21,848 $65,919 Net Income $48,152$54,061
Children and Earning Power One Two Three or More ChildChildrenChildren Chinatown $36,520 $19,357 $19,000 Washington Heights 37,000 28,085 35,800 Morningside Heights 19,924 30,240 39,372 East Harlem 48,000 27,500 22,488 Central Harlem 52,000 42,148 43,732 Chelsea 48,750 24,200 14,000 Greenwich Village 60,300 44,500 80,150 Upper West Side 98,650 122,000 100,400 Upper East Side 120,000 142,000 302,975 ___________________________________________ Having more children tends to reduce a family’s earning power in the U.S., except among the wealthiest portion of American society.
