Maternal Mortality and Female Literacy Rates in Developing Countries during 1970–2000: A Latent Growth Curve Analysis

Table 2

Description of variables.

Year	1970–1980		1980–1990		1990–2000
Variables	Mean	SD	Mean	SD	Mean	SD
	East Asia/Pacific/South Asia
Female literacy	52.71%	26.64	60.37%	21.56	70.04%	21.25
Age at marriage	21.35	2.18	22.17	1.97	22.36	1.51
GDP per capita ($)	768.94	575.51	1048.00	1012.50	1316.20	1282.90
Maternal mortality ratio	491.38	442.66	446.23	368.81	356.44	184.53
	Latin America/Caribbean
Female literacy	74.43%	16.19	79.35%	12.15	86.27%	10.47
Age at marriage	23.54	3.24	24.69	3.90	23.23	3.00
GDP per capita ($)	1440.70	885.82	1854.80	1292.60	3150.20	2257.00
Maternal mortality ratio	126.98	144.96	162.44	184.53	129.98	154.72
	Africa/MENA
Female literacy	30.50%	20.62	44.82%	18.92	55.21%	24.59
Age at marriage	20.40	2.36	22.35	2.81	22.34	2.59
GDP per capita ($)	991.21	995.68	1074.40	1357.50	1176.60	1564.30
Maternal mortality ratio	441.87	250.76	534.54	376.22	559.23	427.92
	Europe/Central Asia
Female literacy	70.20%	12.70	66.40%	16.45	95.53%	6.63
Age at marriage	21.81	0.83	22.99	1.38	24.69	1.95
GDP per capita ($)	1735.50	225.83	1732.40	798.60	1473.80	1007.60
Maternal mortality ratio	72.00	79.00	53.64	50.11	39.19	26.31