The Role of Wealth and Mother’s Education in Infant and Child Mortality in 26 Sub-Saharan African Countries: Evidence from Pooled Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) Data 2003–2011 and African Development Indicators (ADI), 2012

Abstract

This study examined the regional differences in the role of wealth and mothers’ educational attainment in explaining infant and child mortality in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Specifically, this study investigates the role of wealth and mothers’ educational attainment in urban–rural and regional differences of SSA. We use data from Demographic and Health Surveys and the World Bank African Development Indicators to document these regional differences in infant and child mortality rates in SSA. Our findings show small variability in the risk of infant and child mortality attributable to regional differences in SSA. There is a statistically negative significant difference in infant and child mortality with urban dwellers compared to rural dwellers in SSA. Also, we found the risk of infant and child mortality to be correlated with per capita gross domestic product equal to or greater than five hundred US dollars ($500). Our findings show mother’s education to be negatively correlated with infant and child mortality in SSA. These findings give credence to previous studies which highlighted the significance of wealth, education of the mother, and location in explaining infant and child mortality differences in SSA. Our study finds no evidence of a statistically significant difference in the risk of infant and child mortality between the urban poorest and poorer wealth quintile households and their rural counterparts in SSA.