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Contraceptive Utilization Among Married Couples in Nigeria: Socio-cultural Factors

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Abstract

Effective spacing of births enhances the health and well-being of reproductive-age women. The literature on socio-cultural factors affecting contraceptive utilization is not well documented in Nigeria. This chapter aims to fill this gap. The research is based on cross-sectional data gathered from the 2018 Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey consisting of 8061 married couples. Data analyses were done via three levels of statistical analysis: univariate, bivariate, and multivariate. For univariate analysis, descriptive statistics were adopted to explore the socio-demographic characteristics of married couples in Nigeria. Chi-square analyses assessed differences in the utilization of contraceptives among married couples by way of socio-demographic characteristics. Auto-fitted binary logistic regression model was adopted to identify the socio-cultural determinants of contraceptive utilization among married couples. Results show a clear regional difference in contraceptive implementation among married couples with the least acceptance from North-West (i.e., 7.2%) and highest in South-West (i.e., 36.8%). The bivariate analysis shows that 36.8% of women with higher education use contraceptives, while only 5.8% of women without an education use them. Results from the binary logistic regression show that contraceptive utilization among married couples in Nigeria was significantly correlated with key socio-cultural factors: education, wealth index, religion, age, and an ideal family size. This chapter explores the large unmet need for contraceptive acceptance in rural Nigeria and indicates the need for improving women’s health and well-being as enshrined by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals 3, 5, and 10—as we gradually approach 2030.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Demography and Social Statistics Programme, Department of Economics and Development Studies, Covenant University, Ota, Ogun State, Nigeria

    Dominic E. Azuh, Paul O. Adekola & Adebanke Olawole-Isaac

  2. Centre for Economic Policy and Development Research, Covenant University, Ota, Ogun State, Nigeria

    Dominic E. Azuh, Paul O. Adekola, Adebanke Olawole-Isaac & Gideon A. Adeyemi

  3. Research Centre for Anthropology and Health, Department of Life Sciences, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal

    Paul O. Adekola

  4. Department of Civil Engineering, Covenant University, Ota, Ogun State, Nigeria

    Gideon A. Adeyemi

  5. Faculty of Economics, University of Gdansk, Sopot, Poland

    Giuseppe T. Cirella & Chelsea R. Spring

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  1. Dominic E. Azuh
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  2. Paul O. Adekola
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  3. Adebanke Olawole-Isaac
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  4. Gideon A. Adeyemi
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  5. Giuseppe T. Cirella
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  6. Chelsea R. Spring
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Correspondence to Dominic E. Azuh .

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  1. Faculty of Economics, University of Gdansk, Sopot, Poland

    Giuseppe T. Cirella

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Azuh, D.E., Adekola, P.O., Olawole-Isaac, A., Adeyemi, G.A., Cirella, G.T., Spring, C.R. (2023). Contraceptive Utilization Among Married Couples in Nigeria: Socio-cultural Factors. In: Cirella, G.T. (eds) Uncertainty Shocks in Africa. Advances in African Economic, Social and Political Development. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-21885-9_8

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