Editing Infant mortality (section)

====Socio-economic factors====
[[File:Infant mortality rates are higher in more unequal countries.jpg|thumb|Infant mortality rates are higher in countries with higher [[economic inequality]].]]
[[Social class]] is a major factor in infant mortality, both historically and today. Between 1912 and 1915, the Children's Bureau in the United States examined data across eight cities and nearly 23,000 live births. They discovered that lower [[income]]s tended to [[correlation|correlate]] with higher infant mortality. In cases where the father had no income, the rate of infant mortality was 357% higher than that for the highest income earners ($1,250+).<ref name="ReferenceA" />{{rp|5}} Differences between [[race (classification of humans)|races]] were also apparent. African-American mothers experience infant mortality at a rate 44% higher than average;<ref name="ReferenceA">{{Cite journal |vauthors=Haines MR |year=2011 |title=Inequality and infant and childhood mortality in the United States in the twentieth century |url=http://www.nber.org/papers/w16133.pdf |journal=Explorations in Economic History |volume=48 |issue=3 |pages=418–28 |doi=10.1016/j.eeh.2011.05.009 |s2cid=154583453 |ssrn=1630138}}</ref> however, research indicates that socio-economic factors do not totally account for the racial disparities in infant mortality.<ref name="Osel2008" />

[[File:Countries by GDP (nominal) per capita in 2019.svg|thumb|left|270x270px|Countries by 2019 [[List of countries by GDP (nominal) per capita|GDP (nominal) per capita]]{{efn|Data from the [[United Nations]] is used.}}]]

While infant mortality is normally negatively correlated with GDP, there may be some beneficial short-term effects from a recession. A 2009 study in ''[[The Economist]]'' showed that economic slowdowns reduce air pollution, which results in a lower infant mortality rate. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, the recession's impact on air quality was estimated to have saved around 1,300 US babies.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2009-06-01 |title=A recession breathes life |newspaper=The Economist |url=http://www.economist.com/research/articlesBySubject/displaystory.cfm?subjectid=7933604&story_id=13764868 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090725034036/http://www.economist.com/research/articlesBySubject/displaystory.cfm?subjectid=7933604&story_id=13764868 |archive-date=2009-07-25}}</ref> It is only during deep recessions that infant mortality increases. According to Norbert Schady and Marc-François Smitz, recessions when [[per capita GDP]] drops by 15% or more increase IMR.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Schady |first1=Norbert |last2=Smitz |first2=Marc |date=August 2009 |title=Aggregate Economic Shocks and Infant Mortality: New Evidence for Middle-Income Countries |url=http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTAFRICA/Resources/SchadySmitz_080509.pdf |website=The World Bank}}</ref>

Social class dictates which medical services are available to an individual. Disparities due to [[socioeconomic]] factors have been highlighted by advances in medical [[technology]]. Developed countries, most notably the United States, have seen a divergence in IMR between those living in poverty who cannot afford medically advanced resources, and those who can.<ref name="Gortmaker 1997" />

Developing nations with democratic governments tend to be more responsive to public opinion, [[social movements]], and [[special interest groups]] on issues like infant mortality. In contrast, non-democratic governments are more interested in corporate issues than in health issues. Democratic status affects the dependency a nation has on its economic state via exports, investments from multinational corporations, and international lending institutions.<ref name="Shandra">{{Cite journal |vauthors=Shandra JM, Nobles J, London B, Williamson JB |date=July 2004 |title=Dependency, democracy, and infant mortality: a quantitative, cross-national analysis of less developed countries |url=http://www.escholarship.org/uc/item/1wm303dg |journal=Social Science & Medicine |volume=59 |issue=2 |pages=321–333 |doi=10.1016/j.socscimed.2003.10.022 |pmid=15110423 |s2cid=616916}}</ref>

Levels of socioeconomic development and global integration are inversely related to a nation's infant mortality rate, meaning that as they increase, IMR decreases.<ref name="Andrews" /><ref name="Fuse">{{Cite journal |vauthors=Fuse K, Crenshaw EM |date=January 2006 |title=Gender imbalance in infant mortality: a cross-national study of social structure and female infanticide |journal=Social Science & Medicine |volume=62 |issue=2 |pages=360–74 |doi=10.1016/j.socscimed.2005.06.006 |pmid=16046041}}</ref> A nation's internal impact is highly influenced by its position in the global economy, which has adverse effects on the survival of children in developing countries.<ref name="Jorgenson" /> Countries can experience disproportionate effects from [[trade]] and stratification within the global system,<ref>{{Cite journal |vauthors=Moore S, Teixeira AC, Shiell A |date=July 2006 |title=The health of nations in a global context: trade, global stratification, and infant mortality rates |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/7316172 |journal=Social Science & Medicine |volume=63 |issue=1 |pages=165–78 |doi=10.1016/j.socscimed.2005.12.009 |pmid=16457924}}</ref> which contributes to the global [[division of labor]], and distorts the [[domestic economy|domestic economies]] of developing nations. The dependency of developing nations can reduce the rate of economic growth, increase income inequality inter- and intra-nationally, and adversely affect the wellbeing of a nation's population. Collective cooperation between  countries plays a role in development policies in the poorer countries of the world.<ref name="Shandra" />{{Explain|date=July 2023|reason=Jargon heavy paragraph is hard to follow for the non-economist.}}

These economic factors present challenges to governments' public [[health policy|health policies]].<ref name="Jorgenson" /> If the nation's ability to raise its own revenues is compromised, governments will lose funding for their health service programs, including those that aim to decrease infant mortality rates.<ref name="Shandra" /> Less developed countries face higher levels of vulnerability to the possible negative effects of globalization and trade in relation to more developed countries.<ref name="Jorgenson" />

Even with a strong economy and economic growth (measured by a country's [[gross national product]]), the advances of medical technologies may not be felt by everyone, increasing social disparities.<ref name="Gortmaker 1997" /> In England, from 2014 to 2017, a rise in infant mortality was disproportionately experienced by the poorest regions, where the previously declining trend was reversed and an additional 24 infant deaths per 100,000 live births occurred annually.<ref>{{Cite journal |display-authors=6 |vauthors=Taylor-Robinson D, Lai ET, Wickham S, Rose T, Norman P, Bambra C, Whitehead M, Barr B |date=October 2019 |title=Assessing the impact of rising child poverty on the unprecedented rise in infant mortality in England, 2000-2017: time trend analysis |journal=BMJ Open |volume=9 |issue=10 |pages=e029424 |doi=10.1136/bmjopen-2019-029424 |pmc=6954495 |pmid=31578197}}</ref>