Estimating Mortality Differentials in Developed Populations from Survey Information on Maternal and

In general, the use of indirect methods is limited to developing countries. Developed countries are usually assumed to have no need to apply such methods as detailed demographic data exist. However, the possibilities of demographic analysis with direct methods are limited to the characteristics of available macro data on births, deaths and migrations. For instance, in many western countries official population statistics do not provide any data for estimating mortality by socioeconomic status or migration background, or for estimating the relationship between parity and mortality. In order to overcome these shortcomings we modify and extend the so-called ‘orphanhood method ’ for indirect estimation of adult mortality from survey information on maternal and paternal survival to allow its application to populations of developed countries. The method is demonstrated and tested with data from two independent Italian cross-sectional surveys. We provide the tools necessary to apply the method to these specific data and compare the estimates with official population statistics and the traditional variants of the orphanhood method. The empirical applications reveal that the method can be used successfully for estimating levels and trends of mortality differentials in developed populations and thus offers new possibilities for the analysis of mortality