Economic crises, child mortality and the protective role of public health expenditure

Abstract

The aim of the study was to analyze how economic crises affect child health globally and between subgroups of countries with different levels of income. Data from the World Bank and the World Health Organization were used for 127 countries between 1995 and 2014. A fixed effects model was used, evaluating the effect of the change on macroeconomic indicators (GDP per capita, unemployment and inflation rates and misery index) in neonatal, infant and under-five mortality rates. Moreover, we evaluated whether there was a change in the association effect according to the income of the countries and also analyzed the role of public health expenditure in this association. Evidence has shown that worse economic indicators (lower GDP per capita, higher inflation, unemployment rates and misery index) are associated with higher child mortality rates. In the subsamples by income strata, the same association is observed, but with effects of greater magnitude for low- and middle-income countries. We also verified that a higher percentage in public health expenditures alleviates the effects of economic indicators on child mortality rates. Thus, more attention needs to be paid to the harmful effects of the macroeconomic crises to ensure improvements in child health.