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Individual, Household and Community-level Determinants of Women Empowerment in Nigeria.
Remi AR, Alison ON ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This study analyzes factors affecting women's empowerment in Nigeria using data from 38,156 women in the 2023/2024 National Demographic and Health Survey. The research finds that women's empowerment is at 38.8% of full potential, with education and age as protective factors, while practices like child marriage, female genital mutilation, and living in male-headed households associated with lower empowerment. The study uses multilevel regression analysis to examine individual, household, and community-level determinants.
Key points
- Women's empowerment index (WEI) is 0.388, indicating a 61.2% gap from full empowerment potential
- Older women (26+) and those with education demonstrate higher empowerment levels
- Women experiencing FGM, child marriage, living in large households (5+ members), or in polygamous marriages show lower empowerment
- Women in male-headed households and those identifying as Muslim, traditionalist, or Hausa ethnic group had lower empowerment
- Low women empowerment is identified as a barrier to Nigeria's achievement of Sustainable Development Goals
Limitations
This is an observational study of associations only, not a causal evaluation. The document does not assess interventions or their outcomes, so we cannot determine whether efforts to improve women's empowerment are effective.
Abstract
Abstract Background: This study examines the determinants of women's empowerment in Nigeria carrying out a multi-level analyses. The research is inspired by the limited scholarly attention this subject has received in the extant Nigerian literature. Method: Secondary data comprising 38,156 women from the Nigeria National Demographic and Health Survey for 2023/2024 was used for the analyses. Women empowerment index (WEI) was operationalised using four constructs of women autonomy. A multilevel linear regression model available in Stata was employed for the analysis, with statistical significance set at p < 0.10. Resul t: WEI is estimated at 0.388 indicating 61.2% gap in achieving the full potential of women empowerment. The result from the multilevel linear regression revealed that older women(26 and above) and those formerly educated tend to be more empowered. In contrast, women who had experienced genital mutilation, married as a child, lived in large household (five members or more), were in polygamous marriage or resided in male-headed households tend to be less empowered. Furthermore, women identified as Islam, traditionalist, or belong to the Hausa ethnic group demonstrated low level of empowerment. Conclusion: The low level of women empowerment constitutes a substantial barrier to Nigeria's attainment of Sustainable Development Goals.