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Household Socioeconomic Status and Sexual Behaviour Among Nigerian Female Youth
This paper examines the determinants of sexual behaviour with special
reference to the effect of household socio-economic status as a proxy
for poverty. The data are derived from the Nigeria Demographic and
Health Survey; the analysis is restricted to 1,831 never married
females age 15-24. Both descriptive and analytical methods are used to
assess the effects of each poverty-related factor when the effects of
other demographic and socio-cultural factors are controlled
statistically. The results show that 31.5% of the respondents have had
sexual intercourse, and more than half of these had an affair in the
month preceding the survey. The median age of sexual debut is 17 years,
and there is little variation among socio-demographic and
poverty-related indices, indicating a generally early initiation of
sexual activity. Condom use is low among the youth; only 15% have ever
used condom, and about 22% of the sexually experienced used condom the
last time they had an affair. The results indicate that those who have
access to the media and those of high socio-economic status are more
sexually exposed than their counterparts who do not have access to
media or have less household facilities. Exposure to premarital sex
increases with access to newspapers, radio and television. The data do
not support the view that the high level of sexual activity is a
function of household poverty, although poverty exposes the youth to
reproductive health risks as a result of low usage of condom among
those from less well-off homes