The Poor and the Dead: Socioeconomic Status and Mortality in the U.S., 1850-1860 / Joseph P. Ferrie.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Ferrie, Joseph P.

Contributor:

National Bureau of Economic Research.

Series:

Historical Working Paper Series (National Bureau of Economic Research) no. h0135.

NBER historical working paper series no. h0135

Language:

English

Physical Description:

1 online resource: illustrations (black and white);

Other Title:

The Poor and the Dead

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Mass. National Bureau of Economic Research 2001.

Summary:

Despite the significant research on aggregate trends in mortality and physical stature in the middle of the nineteenth century, little evidence on the individual-level characteristics associated with premature mortality has been presented. This essay describes a new project that links individuals from the mortality schedules to the population schedules of the 1850 and 1860 federal population censuses. This makes it possible to assess the link between individual and household characteristics and the probability of dying. The results reveal a strong and negative relationship between household wealth and mortality in 1850 and 1860 and a somewhat weaker negative relationship between occupational status and mortality in 1850. The findings suggest that even when the U.S. population was largely rural and agricultural, changes in the distribution of income and wealth would have had a large impact on mortality rates and life expectancies. Urbanization merely exacerbated already existing disparities in mortality by socioeconomic status.

Notes:

Print version record

August 2001.