Determinants of Women's Empowerment in Nigeria

Abstract

Empowering women entails fortifying women to make crucial choices across various issues in an economy. This study investigated the socioeconomic determinants of women's empowerment status in Nigeria. Secondary data from 17,677 respondents were sourced from the National Health Demographic Survey (NDHS) 2018 and were analyzed using descriptive statistics to describe women's socioeconomic characteristics and the women empowerment indicators, Women Empowerment Index (WEI) to determine the level of women empowerment and probit regression to identify and examine the determinants of women empowerment in Nigeria. Results showed an average age of 33 years for Nigerian women, many were Muslims, had a household size of 1-5 persons, had no formal education, belonged to the richest group of the wealth quintile, resided in the rural area, and the majority were married. Also, the majority were employed and earned in cash, but more than half were poorly empowered. Furthermore, at p<0.05, being employed, educated, an urban resident, a service provider, earning more than husband, and respondent’s age positively influence women empowerment, while household size, being a farmer, married woman, traditionalist, and residing in the Northeast, Southeast, South-south, and Southwest negatively influence women empowerment status in Nigeria. Thus, the study recommends the organization of awareness programs about the importance of women's participation in decision-making at the household level and the society at large, and that governments and NGOs should strive more for gender equality and empower women to reach their full potential