Editing Infanticide (section)

===Economic===
Many historians believe the reason to be primarily economic, with more children born than the family is prepared to support. [[Marvin Harris]] estimated that among [[Paleolithic]] hunters 23–50% of newborn children were killed. He argued that the goal was to preserve the 0.001% population growth of that time.<ref name="Cannibals&Kings"/>{{RP|15}} He also wrote that female infanticide may be a form of population control.<ref name="Cannibals&Kings">{{Cite book| last = Harris| first = Marvin| author-link = Marvin Harris| title = Cannibals and Kings: The Origins of Cultures| publisher = Random House| year = 1977| location = New York}}</ref>{{Rp|5}} Population control is achieved not only by limiting the number of potential mothers; increased fighting among men for access to relatively scarce wives would also lead to a decline in population. For example, on the [[Melanesia]]n island of [[Tikopia]] infanticide was used to keep a stable population in line with its [[carrying capacity|resource base]].<ref name="Collapse" /><!--He devotes a chapter to this aspect of Tikopia--> In 1888, Lieut. F. Elton reported that [[Ugi Island|Ugi]] beach people in the [[Solomon Islands]] killed their infants at birth by burying them, and women were also said to practice abortion. They reported that it was too much trouble to raise a child, and instead preferred to buy one from the bush people.<ref>{{cite journal| last = Elton| first = Lieut. F.| title = Notes on Natives of the Solomon Islands| journal = The Journal of the Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland| volume = 17| pages = 90–99| year = 1888| jstor = 2841588| doi = 10.2307/2841588| url = https://zenodo.org/record/1449550| access-date = 2 July 2019| archive-date = 26 November 2021| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20211126232521/https://zenodo.org/record/1449550| url-status = live}}</ref> Research by Marvin Harris and [[William Divale]] supports this argument, it has been cited as an example of [[environmental determinism]].<ref>{{Cite book| last = Hallpike | first = C.R.| title = The Principles of Social Evolution| publisher = Clarendon Press| year = 1988| location = Oxford| pages = 237–38}}</ref> However, it is argued that it has also occurred equally among rich and poor and during decadent periods of the [[Roman Empire]] as during earlier, less affluent, periods.<ref name="Hardness"/>{{rp|28–34, 187–92}}

In societies that are [[patrilineal]] and [[patrilocal]], the family may choose to allow more sons to live and practice [[female infanticide]], as sons will support their birth family until they die, whereas daughters will leave economically and geographically to join their husband's family, possibly only after the payment of a burdensome [[dowry]] price.<ref name="Hardness">{{Cite book| last = Milner| first = Larry S.| title = Hardness of Heart / Hardness of Life: The Stain of Human Infanticide| publisher = University Press of America| location =Lanham/New York/Oxford| year = 2000|isbn=978-0-7618-1578-5}}</ref>{{rp|362–68}} Under natural conditions, mortality rates for girls under five are slightly lower than boys for biological reasons. However, after birth, neglect and diverting resources to male children, such as biased feeding
practices, inadequate clothing during winter
and lower-quality health care,<ref name=WHO/> can lead to some countries having a skewed ratio with more boys than girls, with such practices killing an approximate 230,000 girls under five in India each year.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2018/may/15/discrimination-deaths-girls-under-five-india-lancet-study|title=Discrimination kills 230,000 girls under five in India each year, study shows |date=15 May 2018|access-date=20 August 2018|work=The Guardian}}</ref> While sex-selective abortion is more common among the higher income population, who can access medical technology, abuse after birth, such as infanticide and abandonment, is more common among the lower income population.<ref>{{cite web|author=Mariya Karimjee |url=http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2014/1/14/infanticides-on-theriseinpakistan.html |title=Infanticide is on the rise in Pakistan &#124; Al Jazeera America |publisher=America.aljazeera.com |date=14 January 2014 |access-date=18 February 2014}}</ref> Before the appearance of effective [[contraception]], infanticide was a common occurrence in ancient brothels and prostitutes in certain areas preferred to kill their male offspring.<ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-14401305 ''Roman dead baby 'brothel' mystery deepens''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180824155154/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-14401305 |date=24 August 2018 }}, BBC</ref>

Cross-cultural research has found that infanticide is more likely to occur when the child has deformities or illnesses<ref name=Liddle/> and anthropologists have argued that they are often viewed as bad omens as raising such a child in poverty stricken communities are an insurmountable hurdle.<ref name=fp>{{cite news|url=https://foreignpolicy.com/2018/04/09/the-right-to-kill-brazil-infanticide/|title=The Right to Kill|date=9 April 2018|access-date=9 June 2018|work=Foreign Policy}}</ref> For example, in southern Ethiopia, children with physical abnormalities are considered to be ritually impure or [[mingi]], with the ability to exert an evil influence upon others, so disabled infants have traditionally been disposed of.<ref>{{cite book|last=Petros|first=Gezahegn|title=The Karo of the lower Omo Valley: subsistence, social organisation and relations with neighbouring groups|year=2000|publisher=Dept. of Sociology, Anthropology and Social Administration, Addis Ababa University|page=57|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bE0wAQAAIAAJ|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151017033609/https://books.google.com/books?id=bE0wAQAAIAAJ|archive-date=17 October 2015}}</ref>