The absentee spouse phenomenon and spousal coping strategies in Ibadan, South-Western Nigeria

Abstract

Major incentives for marriage and family life are cohabitation, companionship, control economics and regular coital relationships for both procreation and pleasure. When spouses absent from home over a prolonged repeated period, it poses threat to expectations of family relations with implications for population and society. It is against this backdrop that this article examined the Determinants of Absentee Spouse Phenomenon and Spousal Coping Strategies in Ibadan, South-western Nigeria. Primary (questionnaires, IDIs and KIIs) and secondary data were gathered. Findings revealed that ASP is becoming rampant in Nigeria and involves both men and women; but mostly men within the framework of traditional African masculinity and breadwinnerism. Sixty-eight percent (68.1%) of the respondents maintained main cause of ASP is economic (employment and business).The outcomes of the ASP on the children, the spouses, the marriage as well as the spousal coping mechanisms were engaged in this article.