Socio-economic Correlate of Early Childbearing

Shorttitle The study investigated teenage childbearing patterns with a view to examine consequences of teenage childbearing in Southwest Nigeria.Employing 0.3 as the prevalence rate of early childbearing from Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey 2003 and 10% sample size adjustment factor for non-response rate, 355 women aged 15-49 years were selected and interviewed through a systematic random sampling technique. Structured questionnaire that investigated socio-economic variables of early childbearing was used for the study. With a mean age at first birth of 17 years, the study revealed a high prevalence rate of early childbearing among women in the study areas. The study further discovered that the incidence of early childbirth cut across parental socio-economic characteristics. Lastly, this study observed serious consequences ranging from high school drop-out, low or diminished employment opportunities for women, higher infant and maternal morbidity and mortality to the issue of poverty regeneration among women who experienced early childbirth in Southwestern Nigeria.

Autorentext

Titilayo Ayotunde is a Lecturer and a Phd. student in Demography & Social Statistics Dept., Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria. He has contributed to series of workshops and conferences both local and international in the field of Demography, Population and Human development. Apart from this monograph, he has published in some journals.