RACIAL-INEQUALITY AND CHILD-MORTALITY IN BRAZIL

This study uses demographic censuses to estimate infant and child mort ality rates among children born to white and nonwhite mothers in Brazi l. Estimates of associated levels of life expectancy showed that white s outlived nonwhites by 7.5 years in 1950. The mortality gap between t he white and Afro-Brazilian populations remained about the same in 198 0 (6.7 years). Tobit regression analyses of sample data for metropolit an areas in 1980 found that race of mother continued to have a signifi cant effect on child mortality after controlling for region, household income, and parental education. Tests for interaction effects indicat ed that key social indicators (maternal and paternal education, indoor plumbing, access to the public health system, and the demographic cha racteristics of the household) had significantly different effects on the probability of death among white and nonwhite children. We show th e contribution of these findings to research on racial inequality in B razil and discuss the implications of the results for the fields of de velopment studies and comparative race relations.