Assessing the impact of large family size on the quality of life of women in Benin Metropolis, Nigeria

Anthony Ehon, Lagos State University

This study tries to assess the impact of large family size on women’s quality of life of women. Large family size limits women access to health-care , quality education, employment and social facilities in the community. Two hundred currently married women with minimum of four children, age ranged between 25-42 years, mean age 31 years were randomly selected from two local governmentwithin Benin metropolis. Data were collected with designed questionnaire measuring three key areas; access to health-care services, access to education and employment. The results revealed that 80% of respondents lacked the finances to attend hospital, 92% of them only attained secondary education, 56% showed low knowledge of fertility, 87% earned less than N500 naira monthly. Also, results indicated that 79% lived in densely populated area of the city. The conclusion of this study is that vast majority of women in cities and rural areas need more reproductive education.