STRATEGIES EMPLOYED BY SELECTED NIGERIAN WOMEN TO MINIMIZE FAMILY LIVING EXPENSES (Ebonyi Book of Reading, 2022)

Within the context of a global economic recession, the average citizen of the third world falls substantially below the poverty line. The family faces severe crippling challenges as touching its ability to meet the basic necessities of its members. Even the most basic primary needs of food, clothing and shelter become visibly threatened. It then behooves virtually every woman to cut costs on home management. This study examines the strategies employed by mothers to minimize living expenses in the homes of Ondo West Local Government Area of Ondo State. Three questions were asked and one null hypothesis was postulated for the study. Descriptive survey design was employed. Two hundred (200) women were selected from the study area across such fields as teaching, nursing, secretarial work and related disciplines. Data were collected through a structured validated questionnaire with a moderately high reliability value of 0.731. Analysis was done using frequency count, simple percentage, rank order and t-test. Results revealed Nigerian women cut down home management cost by employing “modest” survival strategies such as installment payment for purchased products, and involving in supplementary jobs like farming and trading; and “critical” survival strategies such as reducing the quality and quantity of meal, and denial of basic needs. All these measures are necessarily put in place in order to accommodate the pressing needs and cope with other daily demands in the family. The need to employ these strategies – modest or critical – in order to minimize living expenses is especially fuelled by the prevalence of poverty in the country, as a lot of people are living under conditions that are sub-human. It was therefore recommended that world bodies and relevant United Nations organs should intensify efforts on programmes addressing the issue of poverty among member nations, and that the government across the various tiers in the nation should prioritize the eradication of poverty among citizens.