Comparative Analysis of Multidimensional Well Being of Women in Rural Southern and Northern Region, Nigeria.

Abstract

Women account for a large percentage of the income-poor and they have low well-being. Thus, this study did a comparative analysis of multidimensional wellbeing of women in rural Southern and Northern Region, Nigeria. The Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey data was used, 4641 women data from Southern Region (SR) and 14228 women data from Northern Region (NR). Data analysis was done using descriptive statistics and fuzzy analysis. The mean age of women in SR was 34 with a standard deviation of 9 while the mean age in NR was 30 with a standard deviation of 9. The mean household size in SR was 6 with a standard deviation of 3 while for NR the mean was 7 with a standard deviation of 4. More than half of the women in rural Southern region Nigeria (52.60%) have wellbeing index below the mean while 61.7% have wellbeing index lower than the mean in Northern region. Women in the Southern region are better off than women in Northern region. Women in the SR region are better off than women in the NR. Interventions in the area of education, employment, health and nutrition, autonomy and information access is needed for women in Northern region especially women in the North West.