The evolution of infant mortality inequality in the United States, 1960–2016
What is the relationship between infant mortality and poverty in the United States and how has it changed over time? We address this question by analyzing county-level data between 1960 and 2016. Our estimates suggest that level differences in mortality rates between the poorest and least poor count...
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| Format: | Article |
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American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
2020
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| Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/126572 |
| _version_ | 1826199367129759744 |
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| author | Turner, Nick Danesh, Kaveh Moran, Kelsey |
| author2 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Economics |
| author_facet | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Economics Turner, Nick Danesh, Kaveh Moran, Kelsey |
| author_sort | Turner, Nick |
| collection | MIT |
| description | What is the relationship between infant mortality and poverty in the United States and how has it changed over time? We address this question by analyzing county-level data between 1960 and 2016. Our estimates suggest that level differences in mortality rates between the poorest and least poor counties decreased meaningfully between 1960 and 2000. Nearly three-quarters of the decrease occurred between 1960 and 1980, coincident with the introduction of antipoverty programs and improvements in medical care for infants. We estimate that declining inequality accounts for 18% of the national reduction in infant mortality between 1960 and 2000. However, we also find that level differences between the poorest and least poor counties remained constant between 2000 and 2016, suggesting an important role for policies that improve the health of infants in poor areas. |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-23T11:19:04Z |
| format | Article |
| id | mit-1721.1/126572 |
| institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-23T11:19:04Z |
| publishDate | 2020 |
| publisher | American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | mit-1721.1/1265722022-10-01T02:46:27Z The evolution of infant mortality inequality in the United States, 1960–2016 Turner, Nick Danesh, Kaveh Moran, Kelsey Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Economics What is the relationship between infant mortality and poverty in the United States and how has it changed over time? We address this question by analyzing county-level data between 1960 and 2016. Our estimates suggest that level differences in mortality rates between the poorest and least poor counties decreased meaningfully between 1960 and 2000. Nearly three-quarters of the decrease occurred between 1960 and 1980, coincident with the introduction of antipoverty programs and improvements in medical care for infants. We estimate that declining inequality accounts for 18% of the national reduction in infant mortality between 1960 and 2000. However, we also find that level differences between the poorest and least poor counties remained constant between 2000 and 2016, suggesting an important role for policies that improve the health of infants in poor areas. 2020-08-13T20:28:41Z 2020-08-13T20:28:41Z 2020-07 2019-12 Article http://purl.org/eprint/type/JournalArticle 2375-2548 https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/126572 Turner, Nick et al. "The evolution of infant mortality inequality in the United States, 1960–2016." Science Advances 6, 29 (July 2020): eaba5908 © 2020 The Authors http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aba5908 Science Advances Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial License 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ application/pdf American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Science Advances |
| spellingShingle | Turner, Nick Danesh, Kaveh Moran, Kelsey The evolution of infant mortality inequality in the United States, 1960–2016 |
| title | The evolution of infant mortality inequality in the United States, 1960–2016 |
| title_full | The evolution of infant mortality inequality in the United States, 1960–2016 |
| title_fullStr | The evolution of infant mortality inequality in the United States, 1960–2016 |
| title_full_unstemmed | The evolution of infant mortality inequality in the United States, 1960–2016 |
| title_short | The evolution of infant mortality inequality in the United States, 1960–2016 |
| title_sort | evolution of infant mortality inequality in the united states 1960 2016 |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/126572 |
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