Mother’s Employment and Infant and Child Mortality in India
نویسندگان
چکیده
Despite its many advantages, the employment of women in economic activity in India has been associated with increased mortality for infants and young children. Simultaneously, narrower gender differentials in child mortality among employed women have been noted. This report examines whether these conclusions are upheld at the level of the typical Indian mother. Using data from the 1992–93 National Family Health Survey, the effect on child survival of mother’s employment status is evaluated for all children. Separate analyses of male and female survival evaluate the gender-differentiated impact of mother’s employment. The effect of employment is also evaluated separately by whether employment is at home, outside the home without cash earnings, or outside the home with cash earnings. The bivariate comparison of infant(1q0) and child-mortality (4q1) rates for the period 0–4 years before the survey according to mothers’ employment status reveals that mothers who are employed have a 10 percent higher infant-mortality rate and a 36 percent higher child-mortality rate than mothers who are not employed. Male mortality increases more than female mortality if mothers work. These results are largely upheld in the multivariate analysis of births that took place 0 to 4 years before the survey. Logistic regressions are run separately for survival from 0 to 11 months and from 12 to 47 months. Controlling for relevant biodemographic, socioeconomic, and individual background characteristics, the odds of dying at ages 12–47 months are significantly higher when mothers are employed; the odds of dying at ages 0–11 months are higher only if the mother is employed at home or outside the home for cash. The odds of dying do not differ by mother’s employment status for female infants, but are 12 percent higher for males if the mother is employed than if she is not. During childhood, the odds of dying increase for male and female children if the mother works. For boys the increase is greatest if the mother works outside the home for cash and for girls if the mother works at home.
منابع مشابه
Abstract Background: There is further evidence of breast feeding benefits for mother and infant health. In some regions of the world the rate of exclusive breastfeeding during the first 6 months of infant’s life has been decreased. The most important factors associated with the problem are socio-economic variables such as maternal age, mother’s employment status, level of education, and infant...
متن کاملMother’s education and female child survival: An empirical study from India
In India, child mortality rates for girls are much higher than those for boys, indicating discrimination against girls in the intra-household allocation of resources. In addition, overall child mortality rates remain high in many parts of the country. This paper attempts to understand important predictors of both child and excessive female child mortality in India, with a focus on variables rel...
متن کاملVariations of Infant and Under-five Child Mortality Rates around the World, the Role of Human Development Index (HDI)
Background: The Human Development Index (HDI) is a composite statistic of life expectancy, education, and income per capita indicators, which apart from measuring the socio-economic development of countries can predict health outcomes. The current study aimed at determination of the effects of HDI individual components on infant and child mortality. Materials and Methods: At a cross- sectional ...
متن کاملPredicting Infant Outcome in Families of Employed and Nonemployed Mothers
Differences in infant outcome, predictor variables, and their relationships were explored as a function of maternal employment. Thirty 18-month-olds and their mothers were studied. Child intelligence, attachment security, and dependency were measured, as well as frequency of stressful events in the mother’s life, quality of the parents’ marital relationship, frequency of the mother’s social con...
متن کاملESTIMATING INFANT AND CHILD MORTALITY IN IRAN, 1989
This paper presents estimates of infant and child mortality in the rural and urban areas of Iran for 1989. Data are from a one percent sample of the urban and rural population. The study makes use of data on the number of children born alive and children surviving, classified by age of the mother. Based on these data estimates of infant and child mortality for the urban and the rural areas...
متن کاملذخیره در منابع من
با ذخیره ی این منبع در منابع من، دسترسی به آن را برای استفاده های بعدی آسان تر کنید
عنوان ژورنال:
دوره شماره
صفحات -
تاریخ انتشار 2001