It’s the International Day of Families!
Celebrated May 15 every year, the International Day of Families reflects on family-related matters and enhances understanding of the social, economic, and demographic factors influencing families.
The 2024 theme, “Families and Climate Change,” is a call to raise awareness of how climate change impacts families and the role families can play in climate action.
Besides the present impact of climate change on the family, we observed longstanding family issues bordering on relational gaps between children and their parents and reproductive health initiatives between adult men and women.
So, on this year’s family day, we reflect on a SenorRita edition we had dedicated to highlighting these issues.
Seeing a nexus between family size and stability, we interrogate how these influence the wholesome growth and development of children, beginning with the dynamics of contraceptive use between married and unmarried partners.
In African families, particularly in Nigeria, navigating decisions concerning reproduction, family planning, and family structure often poses significant challenges.
As we reflect on Nigerian families today, we note that more married women than their male counterparts are bearing the responsibility of avoiding unplanned pregnancies, with an alarming number of children not living with their biological parents.
37 out of 100 children do not live with both or one of their biological parents.
Only 2% of married women have husbands who take responsibility for preventing unplanned pregnancies in marriage.
Here is a throwback in case you miss it.
Men bear the Contraceptive Burden until…
Unmarried women who are sexually active shift the burden of contraceptive use to their male partners. The reverse is the case with married women.
Married women literarily carry the whole burden of preventing pregnancy.
Data from the National Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS) shows that the primary source of contraceptives for unmarried sexually active women is the male condom.
This means that while male protects themselves, they also protect their sexual partners by reducing the rate of unintended pregnancies and the transmission of sexual-related diseases.
According to the World Health Organization ( WHO), the use of contraceptives is essential because it reduces the need for unsafe abortion and reduces HIV transmission from both partners.
Aside from male protection, unmarried women use other contraceptives, such as Injectable pills and implants, but the consumption ratio is low.
Until Married Women Take the Initiative
More married women use contraceptives than their male partners to prevent unintended pregnancies.
Contraception is the use of medicines, devices, or surgery to prevent unintended pregnancies and reduce HIV transmissions from mothers to newborns.
Data from the Nigeria Demographic Health Survey (NDHS) shows that more married women prioritise the use of contraceptives over their partners.
While 19% of unmarried women prevent pregnancies through male partners’ contraceptive use, only 2% of married women have their male partners take that responsibility (using male condoms).
The most commonly used modern methods of contraception among currently married women are injectables and implants, while the least used contraceptives are male condoms, pills and IUDs.
While married women use more contraceptives, their partners use fewer contraceptives to protect themselves.
Why it is Important to Plan a Family
Family planning allows people to attain their desired number of children, if any, and to determine the spacing of their pregnancies. It is achieved through the use of contraceptive methods and the treatment of infertility.
The World Health Organization (WHO) says information on family planning is fundamental to all individuals’ health and human rights.
One of the importance of family planning is that it prevents unintended pregnancies and helps to lower maternal ill-health and the number of pregnancy-related deaths among women of childbearing age.
Also, family planning helps in delaying pregnancies in young girls who are at increased risk of health problems from early childbearing and preventing pregnancies among older women who also face increased risks are essential health benefits of family planning.
Nigeria Family Planning (NFP) goals envision a country where everyone, including adolescents, young people, populations affected by the crisis, and other vulnerable populations, can make informed choices, have equitable and affordable access to quality family planning, and participate as equals in society’s development by 2030.
Unplanned pregnancies also have consequences on the children. “Before 2 years of age, children whose conceptions had been mistimed or unwanted exhibited higher levels of fearfulness and lower levels of positive affect. When they were of preschool age, they had lower scores on verbal development tests, even though they had no deficit of verbal memory.”
Female and Male Kids Separated from Parents
In Nigeria, fewer female children live with their biological parents than male children.
Data from the MICS 2021 survey on children’s living arrangements shows that 78% of the female children live with both parents compared to 79.6% of the male children.
Conversely, more female children do not live with both of their biological parents than male children – 88 in 1000 (8.8% of) female children do not live with their biological parents, while the figure is 70 in 1000 (7% of) male children.