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The mortality gradient in town and country: Social class and childhood mortality in Sweden at the turn of the twentieth century

Castillo, Marcos LU orcid and Dribe, Martin LU (2026) In Economic History Review
Abstract
This study examines social-class and urban–rural differentials in childhood mortality in Sweden from 1880 to 1910, a period of steady mortality decline, ongoing industrialization, and urbanization. Urbanization brought improvements in water quality and sanitation but also increased risks from overcrowding, pollution, and infectious diseases. It remains unexplored whether these changes narrowed or widened the class gap in infant and child mortality. We use full-count Swedish censuses linked to the Swedish Death Index (SDI), which provides near-comprehensive coverage of all deaths and allows for reliable estimation of mortality in ages 1–9 years. Detailed census data enable analysis of parental household characteristics. Due to undercounting... (More)
This study examines social-class and urban–rural differentials in childhood mortality in Sweden from 1880 to 1910, a period of steady mortality decline, ongoing industrialization, and urbanization. Urbanization brought improvements in water quality and sanitation but also increased risks from overcrowding, pollution, and infectious diseases. It remains unexplored whether these changes narrowed or widened the class gap in infant and child mortality. We use full-count Swedish censuses linked to the Swedish Death Index (SDI), which provides near-comprehensive coverage of all deaths and allows for reliable estimation of mortality in ages 1–9 years. Detailed census data enable analysis of parental household characteristics. Due to undercounting of infant deaths, we use under-five sex ratios as a proxy for infant mortality. Results show a strong urban penalty in both infant and child mortality in the late nineteenth century, which diminished in the early twentieth century. Pronounced class differences existed in child mortality in both urban and rural areas but not in infant mortality. Although absolute class differences narrowed over time, relative inequalities persisted in urban areas but largely disappeared in rural settings. These findings reveal substantial inequalities in child survival during industrialization linked to both urban residence and social class. (Less)
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author
and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
epub
subject
in
Economic History Review
publisher
Wiley-Blackwell
external identifiers
  • scopus:105047219757
ISSN
1468-0289
DOI
10.1111/ehr.70147
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
288ce009-0126-4254-9f2d-b09ee56f8b00
date added to LUP
2026-08-11 09:56:06
date last changed
2026-09-03 04:01:27
@article{288ce009-0126-4254-9f2d-b09ee56f8b00,
  abstract     = {{This study examines social-class and urban–rural differentials in childhood mortality in Sweden from 1880 to 1910, a period of steady mortality decline, ongoing industrialization, and urbanization. Urbanization brought improvements in water quality and sanitation but also increased risks from overcrowding, pollution, and infectious diseases. It remains unexplored whether these changes narrowed or widened the class gap in infant and child mortality. We use full-count Swedish censuses linked to the Swedish Death Index (SDI), which provides near-comprehensive coverage of all deaths and allows for reliable estimation of mortality in ages 1–9 years. Detailed census data enable analysis of parental household characteristics. Due to undercounting of infant deaths, we use under-five sex ratios as a proxy for infant mortality. Results show a strong urban penalty in both infant and child mortality in the late nineteenth century, which diminished in the early twentieth century. Pronounced class differences existed in child mortality in both urban and rural areas but not in infant mortality. Although absolute class differences narrowed over time, relative inequalities persisted in urban areas but largely disappeared in rural settings. These findings reveal substantial inequalities in child survival during industrialization linked to both urban residence and social class.}},
  author       = {{Castillo, Marcos and Dribe, Martin}},
  issn         = {{1468-0289}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{08}},
  publisher    = {{Wiley-Blackwell}},
  series       = {{Economic History Review}},
  title        = {{The mortality gradient in town and country: Social class and childhood mortality in Sweden at the turn of the twentieth century}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/ehr.70147}},
  doi          = {{10.1111/ehr.70147}},
  year         = {{2026}},
}