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The effects of kin on child mortality in rural Gambia

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Listed:
  • Sear, Rebecca
  • Steele, Fiona
  • McGregor, Ian A.
  • Mace, Ruth

Abstract

In this paper we analyse data that were collected continuously between 1950 and 1974 from a rural area of The Gambia to determine the effects of kin on child mortality. Multilevel event history models are used to demonstrate that having a living mother, maternal grandmother or elder sisters had a significant positive effect on the survival probabilities of children, whereas fathers, paternal grandmothers, grandfathers and elder brothers had no effect. The mother’s remarriage to a new husband had a detrimental effect on child survival, but there is little difference in the mortality rates of children born to monogamous or polygynous fathers. The implications of these results for understanding the evolution of human life history are discussed.

Suggested Citation

  • Sear, Rebecca & Steele, Fiona & McGregor, Ian A. & Mace, Ruth, 2002. "The effects of kin on child mortality in rural Gambia," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 247, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    • Handle: RePEc:ehl:lserod:247
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    File URL: http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/247/
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Germáan Rodríguez & Noreen Goldman, 1995. "An Assessment of Estimation Procedures for Multilevel Models with Binary Responses," Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series A, Royal Statistical Society, vol. 158(1), pages 73-89, January.
    2. Gryboski, Kristina L., 1996. "Maternal and non-maternal time-allocation to infant care, and care during infant illness in rural Java, Indonesia," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 43(2), pages 209-219, July.
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    kin; child mortality; evolutionary demography; Gambia;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C1 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric and Statistical Methods and Methodology: General

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