Gender Parity and Poverty in Rural Households of Nigeria: Empowerment as A Way Forward

Abstract

Building capacity of rural women and men to deal with the poverty problems has become important issue in most developing countries. This is because the issue of rural poverty is inevitable gender issue. It has been observed that most of the rural poor are women who suffer from unequal empowerment opportunity. The issue is affecting mostly women and children as growing generation. This may be due to their unsustainable source of income. The situation is what World Bank defined as "poverty the inability for women to attain a minimum standard of living". Indeed where there is poverty, there are women and children. Where women are poor, uneducated and underpowered in society, these characteristics seem to appear among the family members. This study uses descriptive and correlation research designs to compare the income level, the educational level and occupational status of both males and females among household members in the study area. The finding reveals that, there are wider gaps between males and females in all the three domains of investigation.These also indicate that, the women are lagging behind; and these issues need to be readdressed, because in the rural areas, women are the largest and the vulnerable group.Interestingly, empowerment correlation is significant (p<0.05), moderate for females and very small for males respondents.

www.msocialsciences.com A Daughter Not a Son as Predictor of Reggio Emilia Early Childhood Development Acceptance: Paradigm Shift in Households of Rural Areas in Northern Nigeria

“…Also, others view daughters as an additional burden in households and not like sons, the daughters at one time will marry to another household but leaving out some responsibility of her with her family. Their notion was that the daughter at all time need support from her family, even when she was finally married out to another family (Ibrahim, 2014). This type of situation can negatively affect females and girls' education in such a society, except a certain intervention, were made.…”

“…This finding may be linked to the current intervention of girls' education empowerment program (GEEP) in the study area, in which most female parents acquire Nation Certificate in Education (NCE) as high educational qualification. The daughters being with their educated mothers even in the case of divorce or fathers' death (Abdullahi et al, 2013;Aisha, 2016;Ibrahim, 2014;Sarki, 2015), will continue schooling under their mother's supports. Although, in general, females keep struggle with equality like in the issues of wages gap.…”

“…Yakubu (2017) has reported confirming that, women expectations in most rural society were nurturing children, and caring roles at home and beyond (Zumilah, 2010). However, it is an irony that women nurtured and cared for children and others (UNICEF, 2018), but the men are in control of resource and decisions making (Ibrahim, 2014).…”

“…The rural societies' conservative nature was described by (Zumilah, 2010) as very hard to change. For example, in rural areas of Katsina, there is a historic problem on the acceptance to enrol and send children, particularly girls into formal school system (Abdullahi & Maiunguwa, 2014;Abdullahi, Zainalaludin & Paim, 2013;Garba, 2017;Ibrahim, 2014;Mohammed, Nggada & Abdullahi, 2013;Wycliff, 2014). This is because the rural people of Katsina state for long believed that, western education is an immorality gateway (Wycliff, 2014;Mohammed, Nggada & Abdullahi, 2013;Garba, 2017;Odiagbe, 2015).…”

“…This is because the rural people of Katsina state for long believed that, western education is an immorality gateway (Wycliff, 2014;Mohammed, Nggada & Abdullahi, 2013;Garba, 2017;Odiagbe, 2015). Furthermore, the children right to education was left in the hands of their parents, no functional constituted laws that enforced parents to educate children (Abdullahi et al, 2013;Garba, 2017;Ibrahim, 2014;Mohammed et al, 2013;Wycliff, 2014). Therefore, with the acceptance of the REA-ECD, this study aims to explore daughters and sons among the predictor variables of the REA-ECD acceptance among rural households in Katsina state northern Nigeria.…”