The vulnerable child. Economic insecurity and child mortality in pre-industrial Sweden: A case study of Vastanfors, 1757-1850

By using macro-economic time series as time-varying community variables in a life event analysis framework for micro data on individuals, we have foun d that mortality among children over the age of one year in pre-industrial Sweden was directly dependent upon economic fluctuations, a fact which has not been demonstrated before. The impact is stronger among the lower classe s than the well-to-do. It is particularly strong in years following an extr emely poor harvest. Another new finding is that smallpox mortality among ch ildren is determined by economic fluctuations. However, infant mortality se ems to follow its own rhythms independently of changes in economic conditio ns.