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Maternal Education, Birth Weight, and Infant Mortality in the United States

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  • Timothy Gage
  • Fu Fang
  • Erin O’Neill
  • Greg DiRienzo

Abstract

This research determines whether the observed decline in infant mortality with socioeconomic level, operationalized as maternal education (dichotomized as college or more, versus high school or less), is due to its “indirect” effect (operating through birth weight) and/or to its “direct” effect (independent of birth weight). The data used are the 2001 U.S. national African American, Mexican American, and European American birth cohorts by sex. The analysis explores the birth outcomes of infants undergoing normal and compromised fetal development separately by using covariate density defined mixture of logistic regressions (CDDmlr). Among normal births, mean birth weight increases significantly (by 27–108 g) with higher maternal education. Mortality declines significantly (by a factor of 0.40–0.96) through the direct effect of education. The indirect effect of education among normal births is small but significant in three cohorts. Furthermore, the indirect effect of maternal education tends to increase mortality despite improved birth weight. Among compromised births, education has small and inconsistent effects on birth weight and infant mortality. Overall, our results are consistent with the view that the decrease in infant death by socioeconomic level is not mediated by improved birth weight. Interventions targeting birth weight may not result in lower infant mortality. Copyright Population Association of America 2013

Suggested Citation

  • Timothy Gage & Fu Fang & Erin O’Neill & Greg DiRienzo, 2013. "Maternal Education, Birth Weight, and Infant Mortality in the United States," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 50(2), pages 615-635, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:demogr:v:50:y:2013:i:2:p:615-635
    DOI: 10.1007/s13524-012-0148-2
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    8. Wen Fan & Liying Luo, 2020. "Understanding Trends in the Concentration of Infant Mortality Among Disadvantaged White and Black Mothers in the United States, 1983–2013: A Decomposition Analysis," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 57(3), pages 979-1005, June.
    9. Schochet, Owen N. & Johnson, Anna D. & Ryan, Rebecca M., 2020. "The relationship between increases in low-income mothers’ education and children’s early outcomes: Variation by developmental stage and domain," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 109(C).
    10. Samuel Fishman, 2020. "An extended evaluation of the weathering hypothesis for birthweight," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 43(31), pages 929-968.
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