Single Motherhood and Child Mortality in Sub-Saharan Africa

A Life Course Perspective

Datos Bibliográficos

ID10971014
AutoresShelley Clark (0000-0002-6783-8743, McGill University, autor de correspondencia), Dana Hamplová (0000-0002-4212-6475, Charles University and Institute of Sociology, ASCR, Jilska 1, 110 00 Prague 1, Czech Republic)
Año2013
Volumen50
Número5
Páginas1521-1549
Fecha de publicación2013-10-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaDemography (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0070-3370 • E-ISSN: 1533-7790
EditorialDuke University Press (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1007/s13524-013-0220-6
PMID23839100
OpenAlexW2049722010
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas59
Referencias citadas53

Single motherhood in sub-Saharan Africa has received surprisingly little attention, although it is widespread and has critical implications for children’s well-being. Using survival analysis techniques, we estimate the probability of becoming a single mother over women’s life course and investigate the relationship between single motherhood and child mortality in 11 countries in sub-Saharan Africa. Although a mere 5 % of women in Ethiopia have a premarital birth, one in three women in Liberia will become mothers before first marriage. Compared with children whose parents were married, children born to never-married single mothers were significantly more likely to die before age 5 in six countries (odds ratios range from 1.36 in Nigeria to 2.61 in Zimbabwe). In addition, up to 50 % of women will become single mothers as a consequence of divorce or widowhood. In nine countries, having a formerly married mother was associated with a significantly higher risk of dying (odds ratios range from 1.29 in Zambia to 1.75 in Kenya) relative to having married parents. Children of divorced women typically had the poorest outcomes. These results highlight the vulnerability of children with single mothers and suggest that policies aimed at supporting single mothers could help to further reduce child mortality in sub-Saharan Africa

Child mortality · Developing country · Developmental psychology · Economic growth · Economics · Life course approach · Logistic regression · Odds · Population · Single mothers · Sociology · Vulnerability (computing · Demographic Trends and Gender Preferences · Demography · Family Dynamics and Relationships · Global Maternal and Child Health · Medicine · Psychology