Infant mortality by socioeconomic status and race in Richmond,Virginia 1979–1981: A research note

In this study an ecological approach, in which the census tract of the mother's usual residence is the basic unit of analysis, is used to study the general association between infant mortality and socio‐economic status for the total white and black population of Richmond, Virginia 1979–1981. The analysis reveals that for the total black and white populations of the city, the traditional, inverse relationship between socioeconomic status and infant mortality exists. For the city's black population, on the other hand, there does not appear to be any relationship between the economic or family life characteristics of census tract populations and their level of infant mortality. Possible explanations of this finding are presented and an agenda for future research is identified.