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

Abstract

Abstract Using longitudinal data collected between 1999 and 2007, for Agincourt Demographic Surveillance Area, the paper examines the effect of marital status and co-residence on mortality of women who are aged between 20 and 80. The Cox Proportional Hazard Model is used to investigate the relationship between mortality and the covariates; marital status, co-residence, woman’s country of origin and marital duration for married women. The number of months the husband was resident in the ADSA is used as a proxy for coresidence. After controlling for women migration, marital status and co-residence were significant. The divorced/separated and widowed women had a higher probability of dying compared to the married. In addition, being married to a migrant partner increased the woman’s probability of dying. Thus the study concludes that marital status and coresidence affects mortality.