The influence of parental occupational status on under-five mortality in Ethiopia

ABSTRACT

Few studies have examined the mediators of the association between parental occupational status and under-five mortality risk in Ethiopia. We examine the association between parental occupational status and under-five mortality risk in Ethiopia and the role of two mediating variables, antenatal care visits and delivery by a health professional, in this relationship. Using birth data from the nationally representative 2016 Ethiopia Demographic and Health Survey, the study finds that parental occupation, antenatal care visits, and delivery by a health professional are associated with under-five mortality risk. The study also finds that after controlling for mediating variables, parents engaged in professional, agricultural, and manual labor still have lower odds of under-five mortality risk than children of non-working parents. Future research should focus on the pathway from parental employment to child mortality risk, not through access to antenatal care and delivery by health professionals.

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank the Demographic and Health Survey Groups for the permission to use the 2016 EDHS dataset.

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.