EXCESS FEMALE MORTALITY IN EARLY INFANCY? MISSING GIRLS IN CIUDAD REAL AND GUADALAJARA, 1840-1899

Documento de Trabajo #2201

Título: Excess female mortality in Early Infancy? missing girls in Ciudad Real and Guadalajara, 1840-1899

Autor/es: Enrique Llopis, Gloria Quiroga, Felipa Sánchez Salazar, Ángel L. Velasco, Ana de la Fuente, Rocío García Calvo, Laura Ramos, and Víctor M. Sierra

Abstract: We deal with early-infancy mortality in Ciudad Real and Guadalajara between 1840 and 1899. Our aims are threefold: (1) To inquire whether female excess mortality took place among the neonatal, infant, and early childhood population subsets. (2) To examine the scope of under-registration in the burial and baptisms records over time. (3) To analyze the evolution of gross neonatal, infant, and early-youth mortality rates. We find that: (a) Neither baptisms sex-ratios nor death rates sex-ratios confirm the female over-mortality hypothesis in the early-infancy, although some point to a gender discrimination in terms of burial practices. (b) A meaningful under-registration of child deaths entails a downward bias in the calculation of infant and neonatal mortality rates. (c) The rise of infant mortality in inland Spain during the third quarter of the 19^th century was lower than assumed by the literature.