Factors Influencing Women’s Employment Status and Fertility Preferences among Married Women in South-South Region of Nigeria

Evidence from the literature show that in developed countries where considerable proportion of women participate in the labor force, total fertility and population growth rate are considerably low. This is in sharp contrast to most less developed countries like Nigeria where women’s involvement in the labor force is low, and total fertility and growth rate are both consistently high. This study examines the relationships between factors influencing the relationships between women’s involvement in the labour force and fertility preferences with focus on south-south region of Nigeria. The study employed the 2013 Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS) data sets. Analysis applied univariate, bivariate, and multivariate analytical techniques. Preliminary results show that current working status of women in the region vary significantly by age, education, no of co-wives, state of residence, and age at first sex of the respondents (p-values = 0.000). Other factors with positive significant association with current work status are; religion (p-value = 0.034), and wealth index (p-value = 0.030). Earnings of women in the south-south region of the country were significantly associated with age, residence, education, religion, wealth index state of residence, and age at first sex (p-values = 0.000). These results have importance significance for policy and programmes geared to increase women’s labour market involvement in Nigeria. The results from the multivariate analysis showed that policy makers and programmers need to consider variations and differences in state of residence, education, wealth status, and number of co-wives when designing tailor made programmes for these subgroups in the region