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Family size preference among women in Nigeria

Table 3. (Continued)
Variable RRR (95% Confidence Interval)
0 – 3 versus 5 4 versus 5
Occupation
Not working (Ref)
White-collar 0.86 (0.65 – 1.15) 0.91 (0.71 – 1.17)
Sales/services 0.75 (0.61 – 0.93)** 0.93 (0.80 – 1.09)
Agriculture 0.37 (0.26 – 0.51)*** 0.87 (0.72 – 1.06)
Skilled/unskilled manual/other 1.17 (0.80 – 1.71) 1.01 (0.76 – 1.34)
Highest Education
No education (Ref)
Primary 1.15 (0.79 – 1.66) 1.40 (1.12 – 1.75)**
Secondary 1.64 (1.18 – 2.26)** 1.93 (1.53 – 2.45)***
Higher 2.86 (1.99 – 4.13)*** 2.30 (1.66 – 3.19)***
Participation in household decisions
None (Ref)
1 – 2 decisions 0.58 (0.47 – 0.72)*** 1.15 (0.98 – 1.36)
3 – 4 decisions 0.90 (0.73 – 1.12) 1.51 (1.24 – 1.84)***
Wife beating justified
Not justified (Ref)
Somewhat justified 1.14 (0.87 – 1.48) 0.68 (0.58 – 0.80)***
Justified 1.36 (0.95 – 1.93) 0.76 (0.59 – 0.98)*
Number of respondent’s sibling
0 – 2 (Ref)
3 – 4 0.97 (0.77 – 1.22) 0.97 (0.79 – 1.18)
5 – 6 0.69 (0.52 – 0.92)* 0.88 (0.70 – 1.12)
7+ 0.45 (0.34 – 0.60)*** 0.69 (0.55 – 0.85)**
Number of co-wives
Monogamous (Ref)
Polygynous 1.11 (0.87 – 1.41) 0.87 (0.72 – 1.06)
Experience of child death
No (Ref)
Yes 0.74 (0.58 – 0.95)* 0.80 (0.67 – 0.95)*
Age at first marriage
<20 (Ref)
20+ 1.18 (0.93 – 1.50) 1.25 (1.05 – 1.48)**
Year of marriage
2008 – 2013 (Ref)
2013 – 2018 1.17 (0.91 – 1.51) 1.19 (1.01 – 1.40)*
Base outcome 5 + children, RC: Reference category; RRR: Relative risk ratio. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001

increased by 28% between 2008 and 2018, indicating some transition in preferred family size. There was evidence of IFS
lower than 5 among some sub-groups such as women in the South-south and Southwest regions, women who had attained
any level of education, women who participated in decisions in the household, those who married at age 20 and above,
and between 2014 and 2018.
The above findings point to issues that would require close programmatic and policy attention if Nigeria would achieve
her population policy target for fertility. For instance, attainment of any level of education increased the likelihood of
lower IFS. Women who have attained some education, particularly secondary education or more would be more likely
to understand the health and economic value of small households and have life aspirations beyond the dual roles of wife
and motherhood (Akeju, Owoeye, Ayeni, et al., 2021; Mohanty, Fink, Chauhan, et al., 2016; Testa, 2014). Educated
women are also more likely than their illiterate counterparts to participate in household decisions, another predictor
of lower IFS (Upadhyay, Gipson, Withers, et al., 2014; Upadhyay and Karasek, 2010). Although female enrolment in
primary, secondary, and tertiary education in Nigeria has continued to improve relative to male enrolment (UNDP, 2014;
2020), there is the need to encourage women to attain at least secondary education to increase the proportion of women
who desire smaller family size. Education, particularly university education, is inversely related to high fertility (Kumar,

60 International Journal of Population Studies | 2021, Volume 7, Issue 1