SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS AND MORTALITY RATES IN NIGERIA: AN APPLICATION OF HEALTH CAPITAL MODEL

Abstract

This study investigates the effect of socioeconomic status (SES) on mortality rates in Nigeria from 1990 to 2020, employing the Health Capital Model (HCM) as the analytical framework. The analysis utilizes Autoregressive Distributed Lag model (ARDL) with time-series data to examine how variations in income, education, employment, and other SES indicators influence health outcomes, particularly mortality rates. The findings underscore the significant role of income, and education, health expenditure in determining mortality rate in Nigeria. A more inclusive national health insurance scheme (NHIS) is advocated to accommodate the informal sector as well as health literacy awareness campaigns were policy recommended to tackle this menace.