Malaria’s relationship with socioeconomic status at the macroeconomic level has been established. This is
the first study to explore this relationship at the microeconomic (household) level and estimate the direction of association.
Malaria prevalence was measured by parasitemia, and household socioeconomic status was measured using an
asset based index. Results from an instrumental variable probit model suggest that socioeconomic status is negatively
associated with malaria parasitemia. Other variables that are significantly associated with parasitemia include age of the
individual, use of a mosquito net on the night before interview, the number of people living in the household, whether
the household was residing at their farm home at the time of interview, household wall construction, and the region of
residence. Matching estimators indicate that malaria parasitemia is associated with reduced household socioeconomic
status.