THE LINKAGE EFFECTS OF MATERNAL EDUCATION, HOUSEHOLD WEALTH STATUS AND CHILD SURVIVAL IN NIGERIA: RURAL AND URBAN DISPARITY

Obasohan Phillips Edomwonyi*

ABSTRACT

Every single day in Nigeria, 2,300 children die before their fifth birthday, making it the second country in the world with the highest number of under-five mortality rate (U5MR). Maternal education and household poverty among others have been found to be main determinants of U5MR. However, the role of the inter-play of these factors is not well understood. The study therefore hypothesized that the children of women at the nexus of poverty and have no education are more likely to die before their fifth birthday compare to other women in other groups both in the rural and in the urban areas. Nationally representative sample of 7811 live births to 8558 mothers from 38,948 reproductive aged women in 2013 Nigerian Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS) was used. The results of our findings revealed that the hypothesis was sustained. However, in the rural area, a child whose mother has no education and not poor do not have a significantly more chance of survival than a child whose mother is ‘not educated and poor’. This was not the case in urban area. There is the need for interventions to reduce the disparities in educational attainment and wealth status existing among women both in the rural and in the urban areas. Wealthy men married to uneducated women should encourage their Wives to take advantage of adult literacy programs.

Keywords: Linkages, interactions, maternal education, wealth status, child mortality. Child survival.