Demographic Explanation of Women's Mortality Inequalities between Urban and Rural Areas in Iran

One of the most prominent concerns of scholars in the field of humanities, including demography is inequalities. Mortality inequality is an important index of unfair distribution of resources among population. The aim of this research is to study mortality inequalities between rural and urban women in Iran. For this purpose we used reported data of “Registration and Classification of Causes of Death” In 2008. First the data were corrected with regard to under-registration and misreporting of age, then mortality levels were estimated and finally, using decomposition technique, the contribution of age groups and three categories of causes of death are elaborated. Results show that life expectancy at birth for urban women is 3.9 years higher than that of rural women and the excess of infant mortality in rural areas is responsible for 30.6 percent life expectancy of the mortality inequality. Non-communicable diseases have the highest effect in lower life expectancy of rural women, though and then injuries and deaths due to infectious and parasitic diseases, have also a minor contribution to this inequality.