Racial Inequality and Child Mortality in Brazil

Wood, Charles H.; Lovell, Peggy A.

doi:10.1093/sf/70.3.703

Cited by 22 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 20 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Model 2 introduces controls for other determinants of infant and child mortality. The values in Column 4 indicate that, other things being equal, the mortality of Afro‐Brazilian children is 7.89 percent higher than white children, a finding that confirms other studies of race differences in child mortality in Brazil (Wood and Lovell 1992). Mortality in urban areas is 15.46 percent higher than in rural areas, and is 16.60 percent lower among children living in houses with piped water.…”

Section: Religious Affiliation and Child Mortalitysupporting

confidence: 82%

Protestantism and Child Mortality in Northeast Brazil, 2000

Wood

Williams²,

Chijiwa³

2007

Scientific Study of Religion

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The recent growth of Pentecostal Protestantism in Latin America has called attention to the social consequences of religious conversion. Ethnographic studies find that affiliation with Pentecostal churches is associated with attitudinal and behavioral transformations that modify gender relations, enhance the economic viability of the household, and endow families with social capital that can be mobilized during periods of economic stress, sickness, and emergency. The nature of the changes suggests that they may improve the welfare of infants and young children within the family. To explore this proposition, we use sample data from the 2000 demographic census in the Brazilian northeast to estimate the probability of death among children born to women 20 to 34 years of age. The findings show that, other things being equal, the death rate among children born to Protestant women is around 10 percent lower compared to the death rate among children born to Catholic women. We further disaggregate Protestants into "traditional" (e.g., Baptist, Presbyterian) and "Pentecostal" (e.g., Assembly of God) subgroups, and show that the mortality-reducing effect is greater among historical compared to Pentecostal Protestants. No mortality effects were associated with membership in neo-Pentecostal churches.Recent decades have witnessed an unprecedented increase in the number of people in Latin America who have converted from Catholicism to Pentecostal Protestantism. The emerging religious landscape is associated with changes in attitudes and behaviors that alter the relationship between men and women and modify intra-household behavior in ways that enable families to better cope with the varied injuries of poverty. The changes underway promote forms of behavior and social organization that are likely to improve the welfare of infants and children in the family.A commonly used indicator of child welfare is the probability of death in the early years of life. Because it responds to the joint effects of an array of social, economic, and biological phenomena (Birdsall 1980;Chen 1983), the child mortality rate is a sensitive indicator of child welfare. To test the hypothesis that the welfare of children is associated with religious affiliation we turn to sample data from the 2000 demographic census of Brazil, a predominantly Catholic country where the proportion of Protestants has risen dramatically in recent decades. We limit the analysis to the Brazilian northeast, the poorest region of the country where education is low, poverty is widespread, and child mortality is high. As we will show in the pages that follow, other things being equal, children born to Protestant mothers are significantly more likely to survive the risks of childhood compared to children born to Catholic mothers.Although census data enable us to estimate differences in child mortality according to mothers' religious affiliation, the information contained in the data does not permit us to precisely identify the reasons children born to Protestant mothers have a sur...

show abstract

Section: Religious Affiliation and Child Mortalitysupporting

confidence: 82%

Protestantism and Child Mortality in Northeast Brazil, 2000

Wood

Williams²,

Chijiwa³

2007

Scientific Study of Religion

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Recent empirical studies have shown that compared with whites, Afro-Brazilians have less access to education (Hasenbalg and Silva, 1991; Rosemberg, 1991). occupy low-skilled occupations (Telles, 1989), are residentially segregated (Telles, 1991; Rolnik, 1989) and experience the highest rates of mortality (Wood and Lovell, 1992). 6.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Geography of Economic Development and Racial Discrimination in Brazil

Lovell

1993

Development and Change

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This study investigates the relationship between unequal resource and population distribution and racial wage inequality in Brazil. Using sample data from the 1980 Brazilian census, monthly wages were estimated for white and Afro‐Brazilian men working in nine metropolitan areas. Estimates showed that racial disparities in wages existed across all regional labour markets. Regression‐based decomposition analysis found that a substantial portion of the racial wage gap was due to discrimination (unequal pay), while estimates of the magnitude of labour market discrimination indicated considerable variation by geographical area. Discrimination was higher in the predominantly white and highly developed areas of the South than in the former slave and underdeveloped regions of the Northeast.

show abstract

“…(1-4) Infant mortality is more than twice as common among black as white infants in Southern Brazil (30.4 versus 13.9 per 1000). (5) Poor birth outcomes including low birth weight (LBW) and preterm birth (PTB) are also more common among black infants.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We focus on disparities by African ancestry since they are the most prevalent and affect a large percentage of the Brazilian population. (1-5)…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Explaining Racial Disparities in Infant Health in Brazil

et al. 2013

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Objective Racial disparities in infant health are common in Brazil. Explaining these disparities and identifying the pathways through which they arise is essential for identifying risk factors that can be targeted by policy interventions. Our objective is to quantify the extent to which socioeconomic, healthcare, demographic, and geographic effects explain racial disparities in low birth weight (LBW) and preterm birth (PTB) rates in Brazil. Methods We employ a sample of 8949 infants born between 1995 and 2009 in 15 cities and 7 provinces in Brazil. We focus on disparities in LBW (< 2500 grams) and PTB (< 37 gestational weeks) prevalence between infants of African ancestry alone or mixed with other ancestries on one side, and infants of European ancestry alone on the other. We quantify the contributions of several conceptually relevant factors to these disparities using a decomposition model. Findings The model explains 45-94% and 64-94% of the LBW and PTB disparities, respectively, between the various African ancestry groups and European ancestry. Differences in prenatal care use and geographic location are generally the most important contributors to these disparities, followed by socioeconomic differences. The model explains the majority of the disparities for mixed African ancestry and part of the disparity for African ancestry alone. Conclusions Prenatal care and geographic location differences explain a large portion of the health disparities between infants of African and European ancestries. Public policies aiming at improving child health should target these pathways in order to reduce such disparities.

show abstract

Racial Inequality and Child Mortality in Brazil

Cited by 22 publications

References 20 publications

Protestantism and Child Mortality in Northeast Brazil, 2000

Protestantism and Child Mortality in Northeast Brazil, 2000

The Geography of Economic Development and Racial Discrimination in Brazil

Explaining Racial Disparities in Infant Health in Brazil

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About