Socio-demographic Structures of Families as Predictors of Time Management by Working Housewives in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, Nigeria

Abstract

The dual role of the working wife increases her responsibilities that require effective management of her time to accomplish and have reserves for her personal requirement and that of the spouse. Time management by working wives is not just a factor of marital satisfaction but also a major factor of reducing stress in their daily activities. The demographic structures of the household determine to a large extent the effective management of time by the working wife. The study therefore dwelled on the demographic structure of the household as predictors of time management by the working wife in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, Nigeria. A total of 435 working women were selected through a stratified random sampling procedure across the study area. A structured questionnaire was employed in data collection which includes; socio demographic structure, time spent at work and the effectiveness of time management. The results revealed that test of relationship between the variables of educated working housewives’ time management is positively and significantly related to the spokes person(s) of the household. The observed correlation coefficient (r) was 0.72 and the p-value was 0.000 (p<0.005) at 433 degree of freedom. The presence of children or related who are working in the house were found to be negatively but significantly correlated to time management of educated housewives (p<0.05). Sharing of kitchen by wife was significantly but negatively correlated with time management by wife (r=0.107, p=0.026). Test of relationship showed that husband contribution to the routine activities of household significantly contributed to wives effective time management (r=0.124, 0.010) but the children’s contribution to household finances was found not to be significant (r=0.066, p=0.173). The observed pseudo-R-square values for the test were 13% for Cox and Snail, 53:4% for the Negelkarde and 38:9% for Mcfadden respectively. These observed Psue-R-square values clearly point to be significant association of wives’ time management with their marital satisfaction. It can be concluded that the level of income along with help from others in the household could greatly predict the effectiveness of time management by educated working housewives in the study area. It is recommended that a study of their husbands be conducted to determine if husbands within this population of study are satisfied with their wives working and if education has made any difference in the time use of the household.