America’s poorest children are much more likely to die from birth defects, unintentional injury, murder and all causes than the middle class or the wealthy, despite tremendous gains in reducing overall child death over the past three decades. A study looked at U.S. child mortality rates from 1969-2000 for children ages 1-14 and found that although overall rates declined dramatically for children at the lowest socioeconomic level, gaps in mortality widened. [click link for full article]