EFFECTS OF GENDER, BIRTH-ORDER, AND OTHER CORRELATES ON CHILDHOOD MORTALITY IN CHINA

Using data from the 1988 Two-Per-Thousand Survey of Fertility and Birt h Control, this paper examines the effects of gender, birth order, and other correlates of childhood mortality in China. Controlling for fam ily-level factors, childhood mortality is found to be associated with the child's gender and birth order. Among firstborn children the diffe rence between male and female childhood mortality is not statistically significant, but among others, female children between ages 1 and 5 e xperience higher mortality than male children. Childhood mortality is slightly higher for children who have older brothers only than for tho se who have older sisters only, and it is highest for those who have b oth older brothers and sisters, Other factors affecting childhood mort ality in China include mortality of older siblings, birth interval, ur ban/rural residence, mother's level of education, and mother's occupat ion. All interactive effects between gender and family-level character istics are found to be statistically insignificant.