Is there a mortality differential by marital status among women in South Africa? a study on a rural sub-district of Mpumalanga Province in the North-East South Africa

摘要

Abstract Using longitudinal data collected between 1999 and 2007, for Agincourt DemographicudSurveillance Area, the paper examines the effect of marital status and co-residence onudmortality of women who are aged between 20 and 80. The Cox Proportional HazardudModel is used to investigate the relationship between mortality and the covariates; maritaludstatus, co-residence, woman’s country of origin and marital duration for married women.udThe number of months the husband was resident in the ADSA is used as a proxy for coresidence.udAfter controlling for women migration, marital status and co-residence wereudsignificant. The divorced/separated and widowed women had a higher probability ofuddying compared to the married. In addition, being married to a migrant partner increasedudthe woman’s probability of dying. Thus the study concludes that marital status and coresidenceudaffects mortality.