Jordanian Household Socioeconomic Conditions and Child Health

This paper examines the effect of Jordanian household circumstances on child health. The main objective is to figure out the extent to which household circumstances matter for child survival and health of surviving children. Repeated cross sectional micro-data from the Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) for Jordan spanning the period 1997–2009 is used. Logit models and standard linear regression models are employed in the analysis. Main findings may be summarized as follows. Household conditions appear to matter for child survival odds and health of surviving children. Boys’ survival odds ratio is about quarter to one-third less than girls. However, surviving boys are on average taller than girls. Chances of surviving increases with child birth order, whereas birth order is negatively associated with height of survivors. Education of the mother enhances the chances of child surviving by 60-120%, and increases the child height. Given age, effects of mother education is more significant for boys compared to girls. Physician care during conception is positively associated with the health of survivors. Ownership of refrigerator is positively associated with child height. Finally, children in urban areas show better health compared to their counterparts in rural areas.