Explaining Racial Differences in Child Mortality in South Africa

PWP-CCPR-2004-001

Abstract

Racial differences in child mortality in South Africa are studied using household-level data from 1987-89 and 1998. Piecewise exponential regression models are estimated to explore the determinants of observed racial disparities in children's survival chances. We conclude that inequalities in the personal and household resources of South Africa’s four main racial groups substantially account for racial differences in child survival rates, and that the 1994 dismantling of the apartheid system will not eradicate the racial disparity in child mortality unless persisting and dramatic racial inequities in basic levels of living are radically reduced.