Child mortality is one of the most important indicators of development. Therefore, reducing the mortality rate among children under five by two-thirds between 1990 and 2015 is among the United Nations Millennium Development Goals. For a long time, high infant mortality rates, which were out of line with the socioeconomic development level, were labeled as a “Turkish puzzle”. Although the results of the Turkey Demographic and Health Survey 2003 revealed that infant mortality reduced to 29 per thousand and under-five mortality reduced to 37 per thousand, these numbers conceal the vulnerable situation of some sub-social groups. Children of poorest households experienced 4.7 times higher risk of dying before completing their first birthday and 3.5 times higher risk of dying before completing their fifth birthday than children from the richest households. Descriptive analyses have shown that parents of children living in poor households are less educated as opposed to those in richer households. Unhygienic living conditions, low health insurance coverage and limited access to antenatal and delivery care services appeared to be the most important factors creating an elevated risk of mortality among children of poor households.

Keywords: yoksulluk, bebek ölümleri, çocuk ölümleri, Binyıl Kalkınma Göstergeleri, Türkiye.