Relative or absolute standards for child poverty: a state-level analysis of infant and child mortality.
OBJECTIVE
The purpose of the present study was to compare the associations of state-referenced and federal poverty measures with states' infant and child mortality rates.


METHODS
Compressed mortality and Current Population Survey data were used to examine relationships between mortality and (1) state-referenced poverty (percentage of children below half the state median income) and (2) percentage of children below the federal poverty line.


RESULTS
State-referenced poverty was not associated with mortality among infants or children, whereas poverty as defined by national standards was strongly related to mortality.


CONCLUSIONS
Infant and child mortality is more closely tied to families' capacity for meeting basic needs than to relative position within a state's economic hierarchy.
Hillemeier
Marianne M
MM
Department of Epidemiology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, USA. mmh18@psu.edu
Lynch
John
J
Harper
Sam
S
Raghunathan
Trivellore
T
Kaplan
George A
GA
D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D035082:Federal Government; D006305:Health Status Indicators; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007226:Infant Mortality; D011159:Population Surveillance; D011203:Poverty / Q000145:classification* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012015:Reference Standards; D012307:Risk Factors; D013219:State Government; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D035862:Vulnerable Populations / Q000145:classification* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*