Urban and rural differences across countries in child mortality in sub-Saharan Africa

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to investigate and document the differences between urban and rural areas across countries in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) with respect to child mortality. We use recent data from Demographic and Health Surveys on 11 selected countries in SSA. Socioeconomic variables of household wealth, level of education of the mother, access to clinics, and other environmental variables are used as control variables in measuring the differences. The study employs logit regression to enable the use of the odds ratio to interpret differences across the urban and rural areas in SSA.