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Title: Intra-Urban Health Disparities: Survival in the Wards of 19th-Century American Cities

Citation Type: Miscellaneous

Publication Year: 2012

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Abstract: Survival rates were low in large 19th-century American cities. We ask whether this was attributable to a few bad wards or whether urban wards were uniformly bad. The paper employs two datasets. The Union Army database has been augmented with veterans who enlisted in and/or resided in Boston, Chicago, New York City (including Brooklyn), and Philadelphia. Additionally, the Historical Urban Ecology (HUE) database has been created containing ward-level data on health indicators, the expansion of public infrastructure, and socio-economic indicators. These data are used to construct a Ward Development Index which identifies good versus bad wards and is part of hazard ratio regressions. Preliminary results suggest there is little difference between good and bad wards in 1860. By 1900, however, the urban mortality penalty remains in bad wards and is much reduced in good wards. Understanding why this difference emerged is vital to understanding the urban mortality transition.

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Authors: Cain, Louis; Villarreal, Carlos; Hong, Sok Chul

Publisher: Economic History Association

Data Collections: IPUMS USA

Topics: Housing and Segregation, Migration and Immigration, Poverty and Welfare

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