[Ibadan Journal of Sociology, June, 2019, 9 ]
[© 2014-2019 Ibadan Journal of Sociology]70Maternal Education and Under-Five Mortality among Urban Poor in
Nigeria
Olufunke A. FAYEHUN,
Adegoke MAJEKODUNMI
Aboluwaji Daniel AYINMORO*
Department of Sociology, Faculty of the Social Sciences
University of Ibadan, Nigeria
*Correspondence: [email protected]
Abstract
The death of children under the age of five still poses a serious challenge
to the socioeconomic development of less developed countries. Studies on
under-five mortality (U5M) have over the years observed the differentials
across regions, countries and other geographical locations and groups.
However, these studies may have underestimated the need to disaggregate
the prevalence rate of under-five deaths among urban poor and non-poor
vis-à-vis education of the mothers for proper health planning for the
children. This study therefore, examined the effects of maternal education
on U5M among urban poor in Nigeria. Social determinant of health
framework (SDoHF) was adopted as theoretical framework, while Nigeria
Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) 2016/17 dataset was used for the
analysis of the study. The retrospective birth recode file of the dataset was
generated from women who gave birth five years that preceded the survey,
which gave a total of 3,709 live births. Data was analysed using direct
estimate of U5M and logistic r egressions at p≤0.05. The results revealed
that U5MR was higher among mothers who had no formal education than
their counterparts who had attained formal education. Higher educational
levels of mothers significantly increased the chances of under-five children
survivability. The geopolitical region, maternal age and child’s birth order
among others were significantly related to U5M. Intervention programmes
should be channeled towards women empowerment, while emphasizing on
policies that will promote women’s higher educational attainment.
Keywords: Under-five mortality, maternal education, Urbanization, Urban
poor