Sex Preference and Reproductive Behaviour Among Married Couples in Esan Land: A Breeding Ground for Over-Population

Abstract

There was a strong preference for male children which had persistently remained as a standing order among married couples of child bearing age (15-49) in Esanland. Undertaking the study, a sample size of 560 respondents was selected by multistage sampling method. Data collection focused majorly on two broad types: the quantitative (social survey method) and qualitative (in depth interview method). The researcher was interested in finding out if there were relationships existing between: a particular sex preference and high reproductive behaviour among couples, value placed on children and high reproductive behaviour among couples, as well as weight of spouse decision and desired family size. Percentage was used to analyze the demographic attributes of the respondents, while Chi-Square (X²) was used to test the hypotheses formulated. Findings revealed that 87.6% of respondents keen for a particular sex mainly for perpetuity of family’s name. Associated with this, is the value placed on children by married couples which pressurised them to have more children than their desired number. This becomes a pointer to high level of fertility and large family size. The implication is that women are not only exposed to a prolonged period of childbearing, posing threat to both the health of the mother and child, but also serves as a breeding ground for over population. However, some recommendations were put forward to abate the situation for more predictable and desirable population size capable of sustainability.

Key Words: Sex Preference, Reproductive Behaviour, Family Size and Over-population.

DOI: 10.7176/JCSD/50-06

Publication date:July 31^st 2019