Family Structure and Reproductive Health Decision Making among the Ogu of Southwestern Nigeria: A Qualitative Study

This study examines the structure of the Ogu family and its influence on reproductive health decision-making using a qualitative approach. Data were sourced through nine focus groups organized in the study area among married men and women. The data reveal that the family structure in the study area is changing, although the dominant pattern remains extended. The findings of the study suggest that there are on-going internal transformations that tend to enhance gender equity in reproductive health decision-making between husbands and wives. These changes may be attributed to the widespread influence of western culture and the spread of education in the study population, which are necessary concomitants of economic, political and cultural changes taking place in the society.Cet article examine la structure de la famille Ogu et son influence sur la prise de d\ue9cision en mati\ue8re de sant\ue9 de la reproduction. Les donn\ue9es utilis\ue9es sont des donn\ue9es qualitatives obtenues \ue0 partir de 9 "Focus Group" organis\ue9s entre hommes et femmes mari\ue9es du milieu d'\ue9tude. Les donn\ue9es montrent que la structure de la famille dans ce milieu d'\ue9tude \ue9volue bien que le type dominant reste la famille \ue9largie. Les r\ue9sultats de l'\ue9tude montrent que des transformations internes tendant \ue0 promouvoir l'\ue9galit\ue9 entre les genres en mati\ue8re de prise de d\ue9cision concernant la sant\ue9 de la reproduction entre \ue9poux et \ue9pouses sont entrain de s'op\ue9rer. Ces \ue9volutions peuvent \ueatre dues par l'influence croissante de la culture occidentale et la g\ue9n\ue9ralisation de l'\ue9ducation dans la population \ue9tudi\ue9e qui accompagnent n\ue9cessairement les transformations \ue9conomiques, politiques et culturelles en cours dans la soci\ue9t\ue9

Work-family conflict: Evaluating the mediating role of personal intervening strategies

Balancing family and work roles places serious demands on working women most especially in African context where women also doubled as home keepers, and this represents a key factor in achieving sustainable productivity (SDG 8.2.3). The study was to expound work-family conflict experiences by married female workers in financial instit utions, and to determine whether personal interventions play a beneficial role to improve productivity. The study adopted social survey with the use of self-administered questionnaire among 730 randomly selected married women bank employees. The study shows that 78.8% of female bankers experience work-family conflict due to strain to keep the jobs and meet up with expected family roles. In the absence of effective workplace relief, several women resort to personal coping strategies this is statistically insignificant and having a negative relationship depicting it is ineffective. The study concludes that the individual or personal intervention-based approach at minimizing work-family conflict could not be adjudged as effective. Therefore, a systematic and robust organization-based approach may be necessary as panacea for work-family conflict within the sector considered and the country as a whole

Husband-Wife Communication and Couple's Fertility Desires Among the Yoruba of Nigeria

The study examines the effect of husband-wife communication about fertility and family planning on fertility desires among marital dyads in the Yoruba towns of Ogbomoso and Iseyin, in Oyo State, Nigeria. About 66% of the couples have discussed contraceptive use, and 59% have discussed number of children. This is a fairly high level of spousal communication on family life issues, which is an important precondition for a sustainable decline in fertility. A high level of spousal agreement on fertility intention is also evident from 87% of pairs of partners who reported similar fertility preferences. However, only about 28% agreed that they did not want any more children. Of all the variables considered, spousal communication about family planning, age of husbands and wives, current family size, education of couples and their level of exposure to the media have consistent and significant effect on not wanting more children. The study notes that spousal communication on family planning is an important precursor to fertility decline in Yorubaland, and underscores the need for more research on the motivation and modes of such discussion as fertility transition gets underway in Nigeria.Cette \ue9tude examine l'effet de la communication entre conjoint et conjointe sur la f\ue9condit\ue9 et le planning familial par rapport aux souhaits en mati\ue8re de f\ue9condit\ue9 au sein des \ue9poux et \ue9pouses des villes Yoruba de Ogbomoso et Iseyin dans l'Etat d'Oyo au Nigeria. Soixante six pour cent des couples ont communiqu\ue9 sur l'utilisation des contraceptifs et 59 % sur le nombre d'enfants. Ce taux de communication entre \ue9poux et \ue9pouse est plut\uf4t \ue9lev\ue9, ce qui constitue un pr\ue9alable important pour une baisse durable de la f\ue9condit\ue9. Un taux d'accord entre les \ue9poux plut\uf4t \ue9lev\ue9 sur les souhaits en mati\ue8re de f\ue9condit\ue9 est attest\ue9 par 87 % des couples qui ont fait \ue9tat de similitude de pr\ue9f\ue9rence en mati\ue8re de f\ue9condit\ue9. Par contre, seuls 28 % ont dit qu'ils ne voulaient plus d'enfants. Parmi toutes les variables prises en compte, la communication entre \ue9poux sur le planning familial, l'\ue2ge des \ue9poux et des \ue9pouses, la taille actuelle de la famille, le niveau d'\ue9ducation du couple et celui de leur exposition aux m\ue9dia ont des effets constants et significatifs sur le fait de ne pas vouloir avoir plus d'enfants. L'\ue9tude montre que la communication entre \ue9poux sur le planning familial est un pr\ue9alable d\ue9terminant de la baisse de la f\ue9condit\ue9 chez les Yorubas et rend n\ue9cessaire plus de recherche sur les motivations et les modalit\ue9s de telles discussions au moment o\uf9 le Nigeria entre dans sa phase de transition de la f\ue9condit\ue9