Women's status and child survival in West Java, Indonesia.

This study is introduced by a literature review of the concept of women's status, and related factors that determine infant and child mortality. Women's status is primarily defined by education, occupation and economic activity, which affect women's decision-making in the home and their independence in larger society. Cluster analysis was used to identify geographical patterns of standardized women's status variables among 20 regencies and 4 municipalities in West Java. Euclidian distances were computed between pairs of regencies across the 13 indicators. Pearson's correlations and multiple regression were used to compare associations between women's status variables and infant and child mortality, after controlling for economic development. Using data from the 1980 census, the study demonstrated large regional variations in women's status in West Java, with higher status in both the household and in society in the south and central highlands than in the north and west. Women's status is closely related to infant and child mortality, independent of the level of development. There was 1 notable exception, the municipality of Bogor, where infant and child mortality were higher than average rates for the cluster of areas with higher women's status. The results suggest that improved education, and increase in age at 1st marriage are key elements for improving the status of women in West Java.