Lower Socioeconomic Status Linked to Higher Risk of Early-Life Mortality
The risk of dying between the ages of 1 and 25 is higher for those whose parents have lower levels of education or income, according to a study from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s Carolina Population Center published in the Maternal and Child Health Journal. For example, children and youth whose mothers earned less than a high school degree have a 40 percent higher chance of dying early in life than those of college-educated mothers, the study found. Risk of early-life mortality was also higher for children growing up in single-parent households.