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Sex differentials in infant and child mortality have been reported in many studies involving South East Asian countries with the general finding that the male child has better survival advantage than the female. But, none of these studies have examined the role of ethnicity and lineage systems in understanding these differentials, and neither have they estimated the extent to which various demographic and socioeconomic factors contribute to these differentials. This study attempts to fill this gap by employing multiple logistic regression models that control for differences in demographic, socioeconomic,environmental and nutritional care for the child. It is found that among all the four major ethnic groups with two distinct lineage systems in Ghana, the male child has higher survival advantage than his female counterpart. However, there are significant differences in how much demographic, environmental and socioeconomic factors impact on sex-specific survivorships of children in various ethnic or lineage groups.

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Samuel Kojo Antobam obtained his MA in Demography and Population Studies at the Univ. of the Witwatersrand in 2006, and currently about to finish his PhD in the same discipline and at same institution. He is a member of professional population association bodies such PASA, PAA & UAPS, and a fellow of Hewlett Foundation.

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