Unveiling Injustice: Analyzing Child Mortality Inequality across decades in Peru (1981–2017)

Abstract

Peru is a developing country that has significantly improved the average of almost all health indicators. Specifically, in the past four decades, child mortality decreased tenfold. However, the same is not necessarily true of equality, which remains a challenge. Using microdata from Peru's population censuses in 1981, 1993, 2007, and 2017, we estimate the inequality in child mortality across different social groups. We estimate differences between ethnic groups, education levels, wealth quintiles, regions, and urban–rural groups and find that although inequality has decreased, it remains significantly high. The data show that inequality in child mortality increased between 1981 and 1993, declined between 1993 and 2007, and then increased between 2007 and 2017. Differences in education are the most crucial factor, associated with 45 % of the inequality in 1981 and 58 % in 2017. Differences between Lima and rural areas account for 27 % to 30 % of the inequality, while ethnicity contributes only 6 % in 1981 and 10 % in 2017.