Female Labor Force Participation and Child Health Outcomes in Southwest Nigeria

Child mortality rate in Nigeria is one of the highest in the world. Studies have shown that childhood diseases, poor management of these diseases and poor feeding practices are responsible for most of these deaths. Also, non-integration of women’s empowerment into policies aiming to improve child health is responsible for the persistent high rate.
The main objective of this study is to examine the relationship between female labour force participation and child health outcomes. Little work has been done in this area in developing countries, hence this study.
The study will employ primary and secondary data. Secondary data for the study will be extracted from the 2008 Nigeria Demographic and Health survey (NDHS). Data on ever married women aged 15-49 years that have had at least a child within the last five years will be extracted for 6,790 women sampled in South West from the NDHS (2008).
Primary data will be obtained between 2nd and17th November 2012 through twenty (20) in-depth interviews of currently married women of childbearing age who have had at least a child within the last five years to complement the results from the secondary source. Data will be analyzed using appropriate descriptive and inferential statistics