Category: Civilization, History, and Anthropology

Infanticide, the act of deliberately causing the death of a very young child (under 1 year old), has been a part of human history, although its prevalence has varied across time and cultures. Here are some key points about infanticide rates in human history:
.Widespread practice: In the past, infanticide was a widespread practice permitted by different cultures around the world. Many societies, especially in the past, used infanticide as a way to control and regulate the population, and it particularly affected female children since having fewer women meant having a lower rate of reproduction (fewer children)1
.Stone Age and Neolithic eras: Most Stone Age human societies routinely practiced infanticide, and estimates of children killed by infanticide in the Mesolithic and Neolithic eras vary from 15 to 50 percent. Neolithic groups also resorted to infanticide to control their numbers so that their lands could support them. These high rates of infanticide persisted until the development of agriculture during the Neolithic Revolution3
.Decline in the Western world: Infanticide has become less common in the Western world. The frequency has been estimated to be 1 in approximately 3000 to 5000 children of all ages and 2.1 per 100,000 newborns per year. However, it is thought that infanticide today continues at a much higher rate in areas of extremely high poverty and overpopulation, such as parts of India. Female infants, then and even now, are particularly vulnerable, a factor in sex-selective infanticide3
.Relationship to poverty and overpopulation: Infanticide today is often associated with extreme poverty and overpopulation, where families may struggle to provide for all their children. In these circumstances, parents may feel compelled to resort to infanticide as a means of survival1
Impact on child mortality rates: Rates of infanticide parallel suicide rates rather than murder rates. The risk of being a homicide victim is highest during the first year of life.

Sources
UNODC: Global study on homicide: Killing of children and young adults1
PMC – NCBI: Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities in Reproductive Medicine: An Evidence-Based Overview3
Wikipedia: Infanticide4
PMC – NCBI: Child murder by mothers: patterns and prevention5

Reply addressees: @micahmangione @Areez22

Infanticide and child killing have been historically documented across different cultures and times, although accurate figures are hard to come by due to the moral, ethical, and criminal implications, as well as varying documentation practices. Below are some avenues through which this phenomenon has been understood:

Prominent Studies:
Napoleon Chagnon’s work with the Yanomami.
Richard Lee’s work with the !Kung San people.

Anthropological Records:
Prehistoric: There is archaeological evidence, such as the remains of infants found in conditions that suggest unnatural death, although these are open to interpretation.
Primitive Societies: Ethnographic accounts suggest that in some hunter-gatherer societies, infanticide was practiced to manage the size of the group.
Historical Texts:
Roman Law: Laws such as the Roman ‘Patria Potestas’ gave fathers the right to dispose of offspring, indicating that the practice existed.
Medieval Europe: Church records sometimes indicate the abandonment or killing of children.
Asian History: Chinese historical texts describe the drowning of female infants due to a preference for male heirs.
Colonial America: There are court records documenting the prosecution of mothers accused of killing their offspring.
Religious and Mythological Texts:
Biblical References: The Bible has instances like the killing of firstborns in Egypt.
Hindu Epics: Texts like Mahabharata contain stories where characters are abandoned or exposed but are usually saved.
Modern Surveys:
Crime Records: Infanticide still occurs and is documented in crime statistics, although the rates vary considerably.
Other Indicators:
Literature and Folklore: Stories and myths sometimes depict infanticide or child abandonment, reflecting societal issues.
Scholarly Work:
Researchers like Steven Pinker have discussed the decline of violent practices like infanticide in modern times, as moral norms and child-rearing practices have evolved.

Caveats:
Underreporting: Infanticide is likely underreported due to its sensitive and criminal nature.
Moral and Ethical Issues: Different societies have had varying moral codes related to child killing, influencing how often it was done or recorded.

Reply addressees: @micahmangione @Areez22