A re-assessment of the effects of female education and employment on fertility in Nigeria

Onipede Wusu, Covenant University, Nigeria

This paper re-examines the effects of female education and employment on fertility in Nigeria using the 2003 and 2008 NDHS data sets. Data analysis employed OLS regression technique. Result shows that female education was inversely related to children ever born and ideal number of children. Almost all the categories of occupations indicated a positive relationship with children ever born. A woman working for someone else or for a family member is very likely to adopt restrictive family size goals. Employments that take women from their homes are capable of promoting small family size in the country. The study concludes that promoting female schooling in all parts of the country is very likely to facilitate more rapid fertility decline. However, female labour force participation in the country is likely not to have attained the status to exert any significant negative effect on fertility but employment away from home should be encouraged.