MALE CHILD PREFERENCE AND ATTITUDE OF MOTHERS TOWARDS CHILD SPACING IN RURAL KANO, NIGERIA
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Date
2019-10
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Faculty of Social Sciences, Kogi State University, Anyingba
Abstract
There is strong socio-cultural value and status attached to having a male child in rural area, and thus can affect the attitudes of mothers in terms of engaging in child spacing. Male child preference is motivating mothers to keep having pregnancy and compromising their maternal health so as to have many male children in order to meet the societal expectation.
The theory of planned behaviour was employed in this research. The study design was a survey method. A total of 1,143 mothers from three Local Government Areas of Kano State were proportionally drawn using multi-stage sampling procedure. The primary data were generated through the administration of copies of questionnaire, Key Informant Interviews and Focus Group Discussions, while the secondary data were sourced from data based international organizations. The quantitative data were analysed using both descriptive and inferential statistics at 5% level of significant, while qualitative data were reported.
The findings of the study were that:
Male child preference has significant effects on mother’s behaviour in terms of engaging in child spacing ¬(x2= 6.527);
Qualitative results affirmed that the practice of male child preference determines mother’s child spacing behaviour.
The study concluded that male child preference is an important causal factor in the explanation of why some mothers neglect child spacing and keep engaging in frequent child birth that can lead to maternal mortality.
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Keywords
Male child preference, child spacing, behaviour