Health gap narrows for babies of lone mothers

Infant mortality fell most rapidly for the babies of lone mothers from 1975 to 1996, leading to a narrowing in the mortality gap between the babies of lone and couple parents. Lone mothers and unskilled manual workers have been especially hard hit by the growth in poverty in Britain over the past 20 years. On p 908 Whitehead and Drever show that infant mortality in babies of lone mothers has fallen over 30 years, with a reduction in the gap between the babies of lone mothers and those of couples. The lack of improvement for the postneonatal period suggests that insufficient progress is being made with the groups at highest risk.