ABSTRACT
The study aimed at investigating the impact of women’s employment on reproductive employment in Uselu Community in Egor Local Government Area of Edo State. The objectives of the study were to; examine the impact of women’s employment on reproductive behavior, the importance of women’s employment to the society, constraints to women’s employment and the role of social work intervention in women’s employment. The study employed descriptive survey research design. Sample size for this study was extracted using the purposive sampling technique, and a representative sample of 150 respondents was selected, from which information on women’s employment and reproductive behavior was extracted. The survey instrument was used to collect information from the respondents, and the data collected was analyzed using statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) software program and presented using descriptive methods such as frequency, means and percentage and presented in tables. The study established that women who are empowered economically, are more likely to have positive fertility behaviour.
The guiding hypothesis is that the greater the involvement of women in the impersonal market sector, the lower the fertility preferences, the longer the first birth interval, and the lower the actual fertility. Nigeria has a dual labor market with a large informal sector, which is the main source of employment for women in Nigeria. The most commonly cited reason for women not participating in labor force is their responsibility for domestic duties and childbearing. The effect of women’s employment on reproductive behavior is an important issue in Nigeria because of the country’s high population growth rate. Findings reveal that female employment in Nigeria is only weakly related to reproductive behavior. Even with increased participation of women in the modern market sector, female employment apparently has little impact on reproductive behavior.
Keywords: women’s employment, fertility, reproductive behavior, family planning, empowerment.
