The Non-registration Problem A survey made by the State Statistical Bureau between January 1987 and October 1988 showed that 16.75 percent of babies born in that period were not registered. In the cities the incident of non-registration was 2.35 percent, but in the countryside was 31.85 percent. In China 110.51 male infants were born for every 100 female infants. A normal sex ratio at birth varies from 105 to 107. Three reasons present this discrepancy. It pointed out strongly to the widespread under reporting of female births. The one-child policy had caused under registration and differential abortion, and contributed to the regrowth of female infanticide, largely because there is an extremely strong tradition of preferring male offspring to female, especially among peasants. In the U.S females outnumber males by over 7 million. By this ratio China should have 28 million more females than males. Instead China has 32 million males than females. This indicates that 60 million females could be missing.

The "Floating Population" Problem One factor in policing birth quotas is the existence of a "floating population." The decade after 1978 saw the movement of about 50 million people. They included many women of childbearing age who (or whose families) took advantage of the lack of permanent address to avoid birth control authorities.