Exploring Inequalities in Mortality and Life Expectancy in Sub-Saharan Africa

Isabel Gunther, Harvard School of Public Health

Living a long life is certainly at the core of human wellbeing. Hence, knowledge about the life expectancy of the poorest should be most important for development measures. However, research on inequality in mortality between the poor and the wealthy has so far focused on either child mortality in developing or life expectancy in industrialized countries. Hence, this paper analyses inequality in child and adult mortality as well as in life expectancy in developing countries, using DHS surveys from 25 sub-Saharan African countries.