Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Black-white differentials in infant mortality in the south, 1940–1970

  • Articles
  • Published:
Demography

Abstract

This paper examines the trends and variations in the black-white differentials in infant mortality in ten selected Southern states during the 1940–1970 period. The patterns observed from the Southern states are compared with those observed from seven selected Northern states and the country as a whole. The ratios of black to white infant mortality rates and Fein’s “time-lag” statistics are used as measures of the extent of black-white differentials.

The gaps between blacks and whites in both neonatal and postneonatal mortality rates have widened in the Southern states between 1940 and 1970. No significant differences between the Southern states and the Northern states in the extent of black-white differentials in infant mortality were observed. A positive association between variations among the Southern states in postneonatal mortality differentials and income differentials was found, while neonatal mortality differentials had a weak inverse relationship with income inequality. A series of general explanations of the observed trends and variations have been presented. Also, a detailed methodological consideration of the possible influence of artifacts of the data upon the trends and variations has been made.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Bogue, Donald J. 1969. Principles of Demography. New York: John Wiley and Sons, Inc.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chase, Helen C. 1967. International Comparison of Perinatal and Infant Mortality: The United States and Six West European Countries. Vital and Health Statistics, Series 3, No.6. U. S. National Center for Health Statistics. Washington, D. C.: U. S. Government Printing Office.

    Google Scholar 

  • —. 1969. Registration Completeness and International Comparisons of Infant Mortality. Demography 6:425–433.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Coale, Ansley J., and Norfleet W. Rives, Jr. 1973. A Statistical Reconstruction of the Black Population of the United States 1880–1970: Estimates of True Numbers by Age and Sex, Birth Rates, and Total Fertility. Population Index 39:3–36.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Demeny, Paul, and Paul Gingrich. 1967. A Reconsideration of Negro-White Mortality Differentials in the United States. Demography 4:820–837.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Duncan, Otis Dudley, and Beverly Duncan. 1955. A Methodological Analysis of Segregation Indexes. American Sociological Review 20:210–217.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • —. 1969. Discrimination Against Negroes. Pp. 352–374 in Bertram Gross (ed.), Social Intelligence for America’s Future: Explorations in Societal Problems. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.

    Google Scholar 

  • Farley, Reynolds, and Albert Hermalin. 1972. The 1960’s: A Decade of Progress for Blacks? Demography 9:353–370.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fein, Rashi. 1965. An Economic and Social Profile of the Negro American. Daedalus 94:815–846.

    Google Scholar 

  • Greville, Thomas N. E. 1953. Methods of Constructing the Abridged Life Tables for the United States, 1949. Vital Statistics, Special Reports, Vol. 33, No. 15. Washington, D. C.: U. S. Government Printing Office.

    Google Scholar 

  • Grove, Robert D., and Alice M. Hetzel. 1968. Vital Statistics Rates in the United States, 1940–1960. U. S. Public Health Service Publication No. 1677. Washington, D. C.: U. S. Government Printing Office.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hamilton, C. Horace. 1964. The Negro Leaves the South. Demography 1:273–295.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hauser, Philip M. 1959. Demographic Indicators of Economic Development. Economic Development and Cultural Change 7:98–116.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hunt, Eleanor P., and Earl E. Huyck. 1966. Mortality of White and Nonwhite Infants in Major U. S. Cities. Health, Education, and Welfare Indicators (January):23–41.

  • Jiobu, Robert M. 1972. Urban Determinants of Racial Differentiation in Infant Mortality. Demography 9:603–615.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kitagawa, Evelyn M., and Philip M. Hauser. 1973. Differential Mortality in the United States: A Study in Socioeconomic Epidemiology. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Klebba, A. Joan, Jeffrey D. Maurer, and Evelyn J. Glass. 1973. Mortality Trends: Age, Color, and Sex, United States, 1950–69. Vital and Health Statistics, Series 20, No. 15. U. S. National Center for Health Statistics. Washington, D. C.: U. S. Government Printing Office.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lewis, Irving J. 1971. Government Investment in Health Care. Scientific American 224 (No. 4):17–26.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Linder, Forrest E., and Robert D. Grove. 1943. Vital Statistics Rates in the United States 1900–40. Washington, D. C.: U. S. Government Printing Office. bkMacMahon, Brian, Mary Grace Kovar, and

    Google Scholar 

  • Jacob J. Feldman. 1972. Infant Mortality Rates: Socioeconomic Factors, United States. Vital and Health Statistics, Series 22, No. 14. U. S. National Center for Health Statistics. Washington, D. C.: U. S. Government Printing Office.

    Google Scholar 

  • Moriyama, Iwao M. 1960. Recent Change in Infant Mortality Trend. Public Health Reports 75:391–405.

    Google Scholar 

  • Palmore, Erdman, and Frank J. Whittington. 1970. Differential Trends toward Equality between Whites and Nonwhites. Social Forces 49:108–117.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Price, Daniel O. 1967. Effects of Out migration on Educational Level of Negro Males in Southern United States. P. 188 in Proceedings of the World Population Conference, Vol. 4, Belgrade, 1965. New York: United Nations.

    Google Scholar 

  • — 1969. Changing Characteristics of the Negro Population. U. S. Bureau of the Census, A 1960 Census Monograph. Washington, D. C.: U. S. Government Printing Office.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shapiro, Sam, Edward R. Schlesinger, and Robert E. L. Nesbitt, Jr. 1965. Infant and Perinatal Mortality in the United States. Vital and Health Statistics, Analytical Studies, Series 3, No.4. U. S. National Center for Health Statistics. Washington, D. C.: U. S. Government Printing Office.

    Google Scholar 

  • —, Edward R. Schlesinger, and Robert E. L. Nesbitt, Jr. 1968. Infant, Perinatal, Maternal, and Childhood Mortality in the United States. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shin, Eui Hang. 1971. Migration Differentials of the Nonwhite Population: United States, 1955–1960. Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shryock, Henry S., and Charles B. Nam. 1965. Educational Selectivity of Interregional Migration. Social Forces 43:299–310.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • —, Jacob S. Siegel, and Associates. 1973. The Methods and Materials of Demography: Vol. 2. Second Printing (rev). Washington, D. C.: U. S. Government Printing Office.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stockwell, Edward G. 1960. The Measurement of Economic Development. Economic Development and Cultural Change 8:419–432.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Suval, Elizabeth M., and G. Horace Hamilton. 1965. Some New Evidence on Educational Selectivity in Migration to and from the South. Social Forces 43:536–547.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • United Nations. 1961. International Definition and Measurement of Levels of Living: An Interim Guide. New York: United Nations.

    Google Scholar 

  • —. 1963. The Situation and Recent Trends of Mortality in the World. Population Bulletin of the United Nations, No.6. New York: United Nations.

    Google Scholar 

  • —. 1973. The Determinants and Consequences of Population Trends: New Summary of Findings on Interaction of Demographic, Economic, and Social Factors, Vol. 1. New York: United Nations.

    Google Scholar 

  • U. S. Bureau of the Census. 1963. Census of Population: 1960. Vol. 1, Detailed Characteristics. Final Report. Washington, D. C.: U. S. Government Printing Office.

    Google Scholar 

  • —. 1972. 1970 Census of Population. Vol. 1, Detailed Characteristics. Final Report. Washington, D. C.: U. S. Government Printing Office.

    Google Scholar 

  • —. 1973a. 1970 Census of Population. General Population Characteristics. Final Report, United States Summary. Washington, D. C.: U. S. Government Printing Office.

    Google Scholar 

  • —. 1973b. The Social and Economic Status of the Black Population in the United States, 1972. Current Population Reports, Series P-23, No. 46. Washington, D. C.: U. S. Government Printing Office.

    Google Scholar 

  • —. 1970. The Social and Economic Status of Negroes in the United States, 1969. Current Population Reports, Series P-23, No. 29. Washington, D. C.: U. S. Government Printing Office.

    Google Scholar 

  • U. S. National Center for Health Statistics. 1965. Infant Mortality Trends: United States and Each State, 1930–1964. Vital and Health Statistics, Series 20, No. 1. Washington, D. C.: U. S. Government Printing Office.

    Google Scholar 

  • —. 1970. Vital Statistics of the United States, 1968. Vol. 1. Washington, D. C.: U. S. Government Printing Office.

    Google Scholar 

  • —. 1973. Monthly Vital Statistics Report. Annual Summary for the United States, 1972, Vol. 21, No. 13. Washington, D. C.: U. S. Government Printing Office.

    Google Scholar 

  • —. 1974. Monthly Vital Statistics Report. Summary Report, Final Natality Statistics, 1970, Vol. 22, No. 12. Washington, D. C.: U. S. Government Printing Office.

    Google Scholar 

  • —. 1963. Vital Statistics of the United States, 1961. Vol. II, Part B. Washington, D. C.: U. S. Government Printing Office.

    Google Scholar 

  • Valien, Preston. 1970. Overview of Demographic Trends and Characteristics by Color. In Clyde V. Kiser (ed.), Demographic Aspects of the Black Community. Milbank Memorial Fund Quarterly 48 (Part 2) :21–37.

  • Weller, Robert H., and David F. Sly. 1969. Modernization and Demographic Change: A World View. Rural Sociology 34:313–326.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zelnik, Melvin. 1969. Age Patterns of Mortality of American Negroes: 1900–02 to 1959–61. Journal of the American Statistical Association 64: 433–451.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Anthropology and Sociology, University of South Carolina, 29208, Columbia, South Carolina

    Eui Hang Shin

Authors
  1. Eui Hang Shin
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Shin, E.H. Black-white differentials in infant mortality in the south, 1940–1970. Demography 12, 1–19 (1975). https://doi.org/10.2307/2060729

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/2060729

Keywords

Search

Navigation