Educational attainment, formal employment and contraceptives practices among working women in Lagos State University

Abstract

Over the years the international attention has been focused on women empowerment and how to improve their socio-economic status by reducing the heavy burden of large family size through the use of contraceptives. Despite this, many women still suffer discriminations, burden of large family size and all kinds of abuses. Most Nigerian educated women are not insulated from this problem thereby predisposing them to abuses in different facets of life. Based on this, the study examines educational attainment, formal employment and contraceptives practices among working women in Lagos State University. Survey design was adopted for the study. Using Stratified and simple random sampling techniques, quantitative data was gathered through the administration of structured questionnaires in the study population. A total of ninety-five structured questionnaires were distributed to the working women aged 25-60 years. Frequency distribution and chi-square techniques were used for data analysis. The result showed that the majority of the educated women prefer small family size due to occupational stress and domestic responsibilities. The findings also revealed that the desire to limit family size is mainly a function of women level of education and formal employment. However, the majority of the respondents attributed women abuses to the age long patriarchy, which remains unabated. Therefore, this study recommends the need to facilitate women education and economic empowerment through reliable social policy in order to provide alternative to women illiteracy and under representation in the labour market.

African Journal for Psychological Study of Social Issues Vol. 8(2) 2005: 189-209