Child Mortality and Socioeconomic Status: An Examination of Differentials by Migration Status in South Africa

Abstract

This study examines child mortality and socioeconomic status among migrants and nonmigrants. It also examines child mortality by migration status in all quintiles of socioeconomic status, comparing immigrants to the native-born and internal migrants to nonmigrants. The results show that among migrants, child mortality decreased faster as socioeconomic status increased than among nonmigrants. The results also show a crossover in the likelihood of child mortality by immigration status as socioeconomic status increased. In the poorest socioeconomic quintiles immigrants had a greater likelihood of child mortality than the native-born while in the wealthiest quintiles child mortality was greater among the native-born.