Sex selection in favour of boys and mass emigration of young women have led to the so-called army of ‘forced bachelors’, men who remain single due to a demographic deficit of women. Most research to date on the impact of the female deficit paints a dramatic and negative picture of these forced bachelors, referred to as Bare Branches. This panel presents original research based on field studies conducted in 2012 in communities particularly affected by the female deficit. We examine how local communities and families of China, India and Vietnam adapt to the new demographic structure. By giving a voice to single men themselves, their families and other community members, we document our study participants’ perspectives, family life and plans for the future. Taken together, our evidence finds a gap between how states and researchers have constructed a new demographic crisis and how communities and individuals view and respond to the situation. In sum, papers in this panel show the complexity of the phenomenon and the impossibility to isolate the impact of the relative number of men to women from migration patterns, labour market opportunities, socioeconomic development, evolving social norms, family relations, marriage patterns and the well-being of individuals.
This session is not open to the Call for Papers.
Session Organizer: Danièle Bélanger, PhD, University of Laval, daniele.belanger@ggr.ulaval.ca
Session Code: DGS1
Session Chair: Weizhen Dong, University of Waterloo
Schedule, location, and presentations
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