Family Size and Parents ’ Socio-economic Variables as Predictors of Investment in Children Education in South-West Nigeria

ABSTRACT The fundamental importance of the family as being the heart of the world’s socio-economic, moral and political affairs has been the focus of society. The study examined the extent to which, family size, income and the employment status of parents could predict parents ’ investment in children’s education. The findings generally point to a weak positive and statistically significant relationship between investment in children’s education and the family size, and parents ’ income. The study also found that the burden of the direct cost of education is more on the public than on the parents as only two percent of parents ’ additional income is invested in children education, which points to the unemployment situation of parents in Nigeria as one of the possible influences. The paper calls for the inclusion of other variables such as sociological, environmental, demographic and urbanization in a further study. BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY The Nigerian governments like most governments in the developing countries face enormous challenges in their efforts to deliver social services-water, electricity, basic education, roads, communication networks and other infra-structures. More often than not, the provision