The International Studies Public Forum (ISPF) and Center for Demographic and Social Analysis presents

"China's Bride Shortage and Upcoming Challenges for Elderly Men"
with Monica Das Gupta, Research Professor, University of Maryland, College Park and Visiting Scholar, Population Reference Bureau

Thursday, February 21, 2013
5:00-6:20 p.m.
Social Science Plaza A, Room 1100

Sex ratios at birth have risen sharply in China in recent decades. An increasing proportion of men will not find a bride and will face old age without the support of wives and children. Das Gupta projects the proportions of never-married men and their geographical distribution in China in the coming decades. Projections are based on the assumption that marriage formation continues its current pattern, one whereby women favor men with better prospects and tend to migrate to wealthier areas. The research finds that the national average of never-married men age 30–39 will exceed 20 per cent by 2030, while far higher rates of bachelorhood will prevail among poor men in low-income provinces that are least able to provide social protection programs. The projected geographic concentration of unmarried men could be socially disruptive, and the results suggest a need to expand the coverage and central financing of social protection programs.
                
Monica Das Gupta trained in social anthropology and demography at the London School of Economics, UK, and received her Ph.D. from the University of Sussex. She has worked on various aspects of population, health, and poverty. Her talk is based on her study of how family systems shape the life chances of different categories of household members --- including gender differentials in health outcomes in Asia. More recently, she has also worked on public goods in health, focusing on public health systems to reduce a population’s exposure to disease. This has included studying the institutional design of successful models of low-cost preventive public health systems in Sri Lanka and parts of India. She started her career at the National Council of Applied Economic Research, New Delhi; then at Harvard University; and most recently at the World Bank. After retiring last summer from the World Bank, she is now a research professor at the University of Maryland, College Park and a visiting scholar at the Population Reference Bureau.

For more information, please contact Sandy Cushman, scushman@uci.edu or 949-824-3344.