Gender Preference among Married Women in Stable Unions in Nigerian Families

Child’s gender preference (CGP) as a practice constitutes a challenge to human health. Consequently, this often increases fertility through short birth intervals which have been known to constitute threat to maternal and child survival. In Nigeria, there is dearth of information on CGP; hence this study which utilized 2008 NDHS dataset and focused on married women aged 15-49 years (n=18,347) in stable unions. The dependent variables were CGP and child gender specific preference (CGSP). Data was analyzed using Chi-square and multiple logistic regression models. Among those who have CGP, 72.1% have preference for son. The CGSP for son was predominantly high in the; South-East (86.2%), richest wealth index (75.9%) and higher level of education (77.4%). Age, region, education, age at first birth, religion, ethnicity, contraceptive use, marriage type, wealth index and current work activity were significantly associated with CGP (p<0.05). Women in North-East, North-Central, South-West and South-East were 1.27(C.I=1.14-1.54), 1.38(C.I=1.25-1.54), 2.13(C.I=1.92-2.37) and 2.74(C.I=2.44-3.07) respectively more likely to have CGP than their counterparts in South-South. Education, age and region were identified as predictors of CGP. Strategies to eradicate CGP should be developed.