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The Declining Contribution of Socioeconomic Disparities to the Racial Gap in Infant Mortality Rates, 1920‐1970
Author(s) -
Collins William J.,
Thomasson Melissa A.
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
southern economic journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.762
H-Index - 58
eISSN - 2325-8012
pISSN - 0038-4038
DOI - 10.1002/j.2325-8012.2004.tb00603.x
Subject(s) - socioeconomic status , infant mortality , panel study of income dynamics , urbanization , per capita , demography , demographic economics , per capita income , geography , economics , population , economic growth , sociology
This article examines the racial gap in infant mortality rates from 1920 to 1970. Using state‐level panel data with information on income, urbanization, women's education, and physicians per capita, we can account for a large portion of the racial gap in infant mortality rates between 1920 and 1945. The educational gap between white and nonwhite women was especially important in this regard. In the postwar period, socioeconomic characteristics account for a declining portion of the racial infant mortality gap. We discuss the postwar experience in light of trends in birth weight, maternal characteristics, smoking and breast‐feeding behavior, air pollution, and insurance coverage.