Nandita Saikia|Abhishek Singh|Domantas Jasilionis|Faujdar Ram
Explaining the rural-urban gap in infant mortality in India
Institute of Economic Growth|International Institute for Population Sciences|Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research|International Institute for Population Sciences
backgroundprior studies suggest infant mortality rural areas india substantially higher urban areashowever little known determinants explaining excess rural mortality objectivethis study systematically assesses role socioeconomic maternal child health mch carerelated programme factors explaining ruralurban gap infant mortality past two decades methodslongterm changes rural urban infant mortality assessed using sample registration system srs databinary logistic regression used analyse association socioeconomic mch carerelated programme factors infant mortality using data three rounds national family health survey nfhsfairlies decomposition technique applied understand relative contribution different covariates ruralurban gap infant mortality resultsrelative inequality rural urban india increased timethe ruralurban gap infant mortality largely explained distributions covariates rural urban areathe largest part rural disadvantage infant mortality attributable underlying disadvantage household wealth maternal education whereas breastfeeding knowledge oral rehydration solution