Determinants of Disparity in Desired Fertility among Married Women in Urban and Rural Areas of Southwest Nigeria.

Abstract

Purpose: The study examined the determinants of disparity in desired fertility among married women in urban and rural centres in Southwest Nigeria. Methodology: The study adopted a mixed method research design. A total number of one thousand one hundred and eighty-seven (1,187) women (urban=713; rural=474) of reproductive ages (15-49) years were drawn from Southwest States in Nigeria using multi-stage sampling technique. Questionnaire method was used to gather data from the field. Three levels of data analysis were undertaken to achieve the study objectives. Frequency distribution of socio-demographic factors by place of residence was used at the univariate stage of analyses, chi-square test and binary logistic regression were used at the bivariate and multivariate levels of analysis. Findings: The results showed that more than three-quarter (79.4%) desired four children and below while more than one-fifth (20.6%) of the women desired 5 children and above. Higher percentage of women (84.8%) desired four children and below in rural area when compared with women in urban centres (75.7%). However, among those that desired 5 children and above higher proportion (24.3%) was found in the urban centres when compared with their counterpart in rural areas (15.2%). There is significant relationship (p<0.05) between desired number of children and education of women, husband’s education, religion, age of husband and birth interval urban areas while there is significant relationship between desired number of children and women and husbands’ education in rural areas. Further analysis showed that women’s education especially women with below secondary education had higher odds of desiring more children than those with post-secondary education (OR: 1.57; 95% C.I: 0.70-3.56). In addition, women whose husbands had no education, below secondary education and secondary education were less likely to desire more children in the urban areas than those with post-secondary education. In rural areas, there was significant relationship (p<0.05) between women whose husbands had no education, below secondary education and desired fertility. Women whose husbands had no education and those whose husbands had below secondary education were 16.94 and 2.93 more likely to desire more children than those in the reference category respectively. In addition, women who were Christian were more likely to desire more children in urban areas than their counterparts who were traditionalists.  It was also discovered that women who spaced their births for twenty-four months and below were 0.51 times less likely to desire more children than their counterparts in the reference category (OR:0.51; 95%C.I 0.32-0.80). Recommendation: The study recommends that policy aimed at reducing the desired fertility in both urban and rural areas should be implemented with the hope that high fertility rate will be reduced to a manageable level.