THE EFFECT OF DIVORCE ON CHILD SURVIVAL IN A RURAL AREA OF BANGLADESH

The data for this study come from Matlab, a rural area of Bangladesh, where a continuous registration of demographic events has been maintai ned by the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangl adesh since 1966. a total of 11,951 first marriages of Muslims that to ok place in the area between 1975 and 1987 were followed until the end of 1989, to examine the relationship between parental marriage breakd own and survival of first live-born children. The impact of divorce on survival of children during infancy and childhood was examined, using hazard analysis. Other independent variables included age pf mother a t birth, and mother's education, year of birth, sex of children, and r esidence at the time of childbirth. It is shown that the net odds of d eath among children of divorced mothers in infancy and childhood were respectively 3.2 and 1.4 times higher than those of mothers whose marr iages continued. The paper also discusses the possible mechanisms whic h link divorce and child survival.