Julia Callaway, Interdisciplinary Centre On Population Dynamics, University Of Southern Denmark
Carlos Ruimallo-Herl, Erasmus University Rotterdam
Angela Chang, Danish Institute for Advanced Study
--Background and Theoretical Focus: High-income countries have large mortality inequalities between the poorest and richest groups, but we know little about these trends in Sub-Saharan Africa. The aim of this study is to estimate adult mortality rates by wealth quintile across Sub-Saharan Africa. --Data and Methods: We used sibling survival data from the Demographic Health Surveys from 35 Sub-Saharan African countries for the years 2000-2022, 73 datasets in total. We estimated mortality rates by wealth quintile, stratified by sex, age group, region, and survey year. --Preliminary Results: Southern Africa had the greatest inequalities in adult mortality, especially among women in the 40-49 age group. Overall, Southern Africa had higher mortality than all other regions, also highlighting geographic inequalities in mortality across the continent. Inequalities in mortality have decreased since 2000, however there is some evidence that they may have increased since the COVID-19 pandemic. --Discussion and Next Steps: Socioeconomic inequalities in adult mortality in Sub-Saharan Africa do not always follow the wealth gradient, but there are clear inequalities in geography and across wealth groups at some ages. The next steps will be to apply additional and more advanced kinship methods to the data to give a more complete understanding.
Keywords: Mortality and Longevity, Inequality, Disadvantage and Discrimination