Contribution of Women to Household Expenditure in Rural Communities of Ughelli North Local Government Area of Delta State, Nigeria

Abstract

This study looked at the contribution of women to household expenditure in rural communities of Ughelli North Local Government Area of Delta State, Nigeria. The study objectives were to: Find out the socio-economic characteristics of women, identify the different income generating activities they are engaged in, determine their income level, determine their areas of contribution to household expenditure and determine their annual average contribution to household expenditure. Three communities were randomly selected from the seven communities in the study area. These were Ughelli, Ogor, and Orogun. Forty households were randomly selected from each community. A total of 120 respondents were drawn and data was collected using a well-structured questionnaire and interview schedule. However, only 105 responses were suitable for data analysis and were used. Data collected were analyzed using frequency counts, means and percentages. The study result showed a mean age of 45 years, 45.7% had secondary education, 61% were married with an average family size of 7. Their main income source was farming (69.5%). About 43% earned average cash income of ₦ 25,000 per annum. The total average income of respondents was ₦ 8,692,000. All of them contributed to food, clothing, education and health care except house rent to which just 12.4% contributed. The highest area of contribution was to food to which their total average yearly contribution was ₦ 2,125,000 which is 31.6% of their total annual contribution to household expenditure. Their average contribution was ₦ 6,735,135 which is 77.5% of their total average income. The study showed that the women use most of their income on their family needs. Their contribution in relationship to the average household size is not adequate to meet family needs. There is therefore need to mainstream gender into agricultural and empowerment programmes to remove bottlenecks experienced by women in areas of income generation to enable them improve their income level.