Socio-Demographic Factors, Contraceptive Use and Fertility Preference among Married Women in South- South Region of Nigeria Iheyinwa Chidinma Salami Department of Economics and Development Studies Covenant University Ota, Nigeria. milasaify2014@gmail.com Muyiwa Oladosu, Department of Economics and Development Studies Covenant University Ota, Nigeria. muyiwa.oladosun@cu.edu.ng Abstract - Nigeria is among a few countries in sub-Saharan Africa with consistently low contraceptive use of 15% among married women whose average fertility rate is 5.5 from the 2013 Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS) report. The [21], report showed that while fertility rate of 5.5 in 2013 was a slight drop from previous years of 5.7 in 2003 and 2008, contraceptive use has experienced only a gradual increase of 2% from 2003 figures. This study examines the relationships between socio- demographic factors influencing contraceptive use of married women and how this affects their fertility preferences now and in the future. The study used the 2013 Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey [21] data sets. Analysis employed univariate, bivariate, and multivariate analytical techniques. Results show that some women background factors like state of residence, education, wealth index, and number of other wives have both direct and indirect relationship with contraceptive use. The odds that women used contraceptive method increased significantly by level of education, wealth status, and number of living children, and the odds varied significantly by state of residence, number of other wives, and fertility preference. Effective programming focused on contraceptive increase will need to consider state variations, educational levels, and wealth differences across sub-groups in this region. Other important factors that should be factored into programming are number of co-wives, number of living children per woman, and whether women are favorable or not to having another child. Key words: socio-demographic factors, contraceptive use, fertility preference, married women. I. INTRODUCTION AND STATEMENT OF PROBLEM In the year 2000, it was estimated that the population of the world was growing by about 78 million per year at the rate of 1.4%, and was projected to rise to over 8 billion in 2025 [27]. A survey carried out in 1990 among the developing countries, revealed that total fertility rate was highest in the Sub– Saharan Africa at an average of 5.3 children per woman [3]. Among the black nations in the world today, Nigeria is the most populous and recent estimates indicate a total population of 177 million people [31], with a growth rate of 3.2% and a TFR of 5.5, [21].These statistics are obviously indicators of an impending population explosion if measures for checks are not considered. In Nigeria today, according to [20], population explosion with the resultant effect of food production not being sufficient for the growing population is already being experienced. In Nigeria, the more children a woman is able to procreate, the matrimonially fulfilled the culture considers her. This attitude is the bane of Nigeria’s economic growth and development, [10] confirmed this assertion with an opinion that less developed countries like Nigeria could only grow economically if population growth is held in check. In the olden days, world over, it was hard for women to decide when next to have a child, the actual number of children and when to stop childbearing, except for women who were highly educated career women [10]. They concluded that the number of children a woman bore reflected the desired fertility of her husband and his relatives. However, in the modern society, women’s status is gradually changing. At present, women’s traditional household activities are changing due to the influence of various socio- economic and demographic conditions, especially with more women engaging in income generating activities, higher educational status and high decision power in the household especially as it relates to her reproductive health. Despite this progress made in the status of women world over, Nigeria is still among the few countries in Sub- Sahara Africa with consistently low contraceptives use of 15% among married women whose average rate is 5.5 from the 2013 Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS) report. The [21] report showed that while fertility rate of 5.5 in 2013 was a slight drop from previous years of 5.7 in 2003 and 2008, 504 3rd International Conference on African Development Issues (CU-ICADI 2016) ISSN:2449-075X Copyright © 2016 by Covenant University Press