EFFECT OF EMPLOYMENT ON MARITAL BOND AMONG FEMALE EMPLOYEES OF AHMADU BELLO UNIVERSITY ZARIA, NIGERIA  

ABSTRACT

The study investigated the influence of employment on marital relationship among female employees of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Kaduna state, Nigeria. The study was guided by six research questions and five hypotheses. The sample size of 240 was used in the study. The instrument tagged “Influence of Employment on Marital Relationship Questionnaire” (IEMRQ) was used. The reliability coefficient of the instrument was given at .76. The data collected were subjected to statistical analysis using mean, standard deviation and ranking order to answer the research questions and t-test and analysis of variance (ANOVA) for hypotheses test. The findings revealed that employment has significant influence on marital relationship among the respondents, with misunderstanding between couples, inability to care for children, reductions in sexual relationship and effective communication take the first, second, third and fourth positions respectively. Reduction in leisure time spent with family, persistent quarreling and teaching of loneliness ranked least with ranking position of 18^th, 19^th and 20^threspectively. Hypotheses 1,2,3 and 5 showed no significant influence of employment on marital relationship based on nature of employment, length of marriage, Faculty and Cadre at working respectively while only hypothesis 4 shows that there exists a significant influence of employment on marital relationship based on number of children. Based on the findings of the study, it was recommended that counsellors should organize regular workshops and seminar for married female employees on how to maintain balance between presses of works and marital relationship. Government at all levels should formulate policies that are friendly, and free regular medical check-up should be encouraged among female married employees, and the more children couples have the more their welfare. 

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background to the Study

As a result of the increase economic challenges facing couples, a woman whose traditional role was to take care of the house now has to go to work in order to assist the family. This situation is not peculiar to Nigeria as a nation or even the developing countries, but even developed nations. Over the past decades there has been a rapid increase in the labour force participation of married woman in order to improve family finances. Women have worked at agricultural tasks since ancient times, and continue to do so around the world. The IndustrialRevolution of the late 18th and early 19th centuries changed the nature of work in Europe and other countries of the Western world. Working for a wage, and eventually a salary, became part of urban life. Initially, women were to be found doing even the hardest physical labor, including working as “hurries” hauling heavy coal carts through mine shafts in Great Britain, a job that also employed many children. This ended after government intervention and the passing of the Mines and Collieries Act 1842, an early attempt at regulating the workplace.

During the 19th century, an increasing number of women in Western countries took jobs in factories, such as textile mills, or on assembly lines for machinery or other goods. Women also worked as “hawkers” of produce, flowers, and other market goods, and bred small animals in the working-class areas of London.Piecework, which involved needlework (weaving, embroidery, winding wool or silk) that paid by the piece completed, was the most common employment for women in 19th century Great Britain. It was poorly paid, and involved long hours, up to 14 hours per day to earn enough wages to survive (Namkee & Pedro, 2002).

Working-class women were usually involved in some form of paid employment, as it provided some insurance against the possibility that their husband might become too ill or injured to support the family. Women could now be found in such places hitherto meant for men such  as in iron and steel works, mines, sawmills, oil wells and refineries , gas works, and charcoal furnaces and held such surprising jobs as ship rigger, teamster, turpentine laborer, brass founder/worker, shingle and lathe maker, stock-herder, gun and locksmith, hunter and trapper (MacLean, 2009)”.Many Nigerian women also have acquired formal education such that in every part of Nigeria toady, almost every extended family unit can boast of female graduate of one profession or the other such as teachers, nurse, lawyer, medical doctors, accountant or engineer with Diplomas, NCE, B.A, B. Ed, B. Sc. Masters and Ph. D degrees in these disciplines. Most of these qualified women are employed and working in various establishments, contributing their Quota not just to their immediate families but at local, state and National Levels. Many others are self-employed and also playing appreciable roles in the national development. The cost of raising children has increased in recent years, partly because of the expansion of opportunities for women in the labour market, and partly because of the longer time children spend in school. The lack of public support for parenting has also contributed to a worsening of the economic position of parents relative to non-parents (Bennett. Li, Song, Yang, 2000).

The benefits derived from employment by women cannot be over emphasized. Working women helping to run the family smoothly by earning some wages or salaries, she is the one who can save money for the future of the family, she get ample amount to run the family and she is moreover an independent woman, who can take decision of her life and a family on her vantage for men if their wives are working. They join hand with one another so as to get rid of financial problem facing their family. Employment help to change the boring atmosphere of being in the house and employment helps to develop new skills that might come in handy in their lives (Coltrane, 2000).

Aside the gains derived from employment, the hectic demand and schedules of working couples have limited the amount of time and energy they have to devote for marital relationship or family life. Stresses from working activities by couples often have negative influence on family relationship, psychological wellbeing and marital satisfaction. The life of middle class Nigerian woman differs greatly from those of western woman. Since pre-colonial era women retain certain economic opportunities within the social system. Ayodeji Akinbode & Akinfola, (2003) reported that before the middle of the twenty century, certain Nigerian women played a more significant role in society than did western women. Traditional or tribal society in Nigeria expects women to be significant wage earners in the family. They labour in farming, fishing, herding and commerce (pottery, cloth making and craft working). Apart from that, the difficulties that working women face is quite common and that she is not able to provide enough time to her family and if she has a child of low age, then it affects the upbringing of the child as well.

Women working in the Universities go through a lot of difficulties like their male counterparts. There is students’ population explosion that is over stretching the available facilities. Rather than respond to the quality issues resulting from overpopulation, federal and state governments resorted to the proliferation of universities. This goes a long way in compounding problems faced at the home front as a result of having to spend extra time at work to get things done which at times extends to the weekends due to increase in volume of work to be done (Udedibe, 2012). There is the need to investigate influence of employment, working hours; higher income, and length of marriage on the marital relationship among couples.

1.2 Statement of the Problem

In Nigeria and the rest of African, a woman does all household chores such as cooking, taking care of the children and keeping the house tidy. In some cases, the husband close earlier than the wife from the office but the wife has to do the cooking, however late she comes’ back home. The absence of the mother in the house throughout the day when she is at work leaves the children at the mercy of the house helps for those who could afford it.

There are instances where the children are subjected to so many forms of maltreatment by the house helps; some go to the extent of initiating the children into secret cult activities. To make matters worse, while some married women were at their working place, some men end up having affairs with their house helps leading to house help sending the wife of the house parking. For those that cannot afford to hire a house help, they have to do all the household chores alone in which some risk going to work late as they have to prepare the children to school, prepare breakfast for the family then prepare themselves for work. To this, women are discriminated upon at their places of work; some male chauvinists did not see anything good in the women. Some women have been alleged to be sexually harassed by their male superiors, denied promotion on the basis of not cooperating. Her views not considered as important however constructive, she is seen as a weaker person just because she has some natural phenomenon such as childbirth.

The researcher has observed so many problems regarding relationship among the couples which are related to the women employment. These include disagreement in such matters like handling the family finances, number of children to produce, friends and responsibilities of each partners. These would have been effectively resolved if the couples engage in constructive communication, unfortunately the couples hardly have time to engage in meaningful dialogue largely due to the work demand of the couples.

In view of the above issues raised; the study therefore, investigated the Influence of Employment on Marital Relationship among Female Employees of Ahmadu Bello University

Zaria, Nigeria.

1.3       Objectives of the Study

The objectives of this study include:

1. To find out the influence of employment on marital relationship among married female employees of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria.
2. To examine the influence of employment on marital relationship among married female employees of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria based on nature of employment.
3. To examine the influence of employment on marital relationship among married female employees of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria based on length of marriage.
4. To investigate the influence of employment on marital relationship among married female employees of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria based on Faculty type.
5. To determine influence of employment on marital relationship among married female employees of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria based on the number of children.
6. To find out influence of employment on marital relationship among married female employees of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria based on cadre at work.

1.4        Research Questions

The following are the research questions:

1. What is the influence of employment on marital relationship among married female employees of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria?
2. What is the influence of employment on marital relationship among married female employees of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria based on nature of employment?
3. What is the influence of employment on marital relationship among married female employees of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria based on length of marriage?
4. What is the influence of employment on marital relationship among married female employees of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria based on Faculty type?
5. What is the influence of employment on marital relationship among married female employees of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria based on the number of children?
6. What is the influence of employment on marital relationship among married female employees of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria based on cadre at work?

1.5        Research Hypotheses

The following null hypotheses were tested at 0.05 level of confidence:

1. There is no significant influence of employment on marital relationship among married female employees of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria based on nature of employment.
2. There is no significant influence of employment on marital relationship among married female employees of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria based on length of marriage.
3. There is no significant influence of employment on marital relationship among married female employees of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria based on Faculty type.
4. There is no significant influence of employment on marital relationship among married female employees of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria based on the number of children.
5. There is no significant influence of employment on marital relationship among married female employees of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria based on cadre at work.

1.6        Basic Assumptions

For the purpose of this study, it is assumed that:

1. Employment may have influence on marital relationship among female married employees in Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria.
2. Employment may have influence of marital relationship among female married employees in Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria based on nature of employment.
3. Employment may have influence on marital relationship among female married employees in Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria based on length of marriage.
4. Employment may have influence on marital relationship among female married employees in Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria based on Faculty type.
5. Employment may have influence on marital relationship among female married employees in Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria based on number of children born.
6. Employment may have influence on marital relationship among female married employees in Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria based on cadre at work.

1.7       Significance of Study

The study will be beneficial to marital counselors and psychologist by providing necessary theoretical knowledge, counselling techniques in order to help rebuild broken marital affairs and give new opportunities for working couples to explore high level of understanding that women‟s roles in the work force have increased and women‟s positions in the household have not changed greatly.

The findings of this study will be of significance benefits to couples because it will create awareness for working couples to have clear understanding on reasons why women decided to become employed, barriers they need to faced, benefits connected with being employed. The findings will also reveal to couples the relationship between employment and participation of women in a labour market which might overcome the stereotypical picture of women as a wife and mother. The findings of the study will go a long way to help married female workers aware of unequal gender relations on the labour market. This is because most women feel that hey are discriminated and perceived by their husband as worse wives, the main a reason for this are marital relationship and family responsibilities. Women are seen on the first place as a mothers and wives and then as an employees.

The significance of this study to the Nigerian educational system and Non-Governmental

Organizations (NGO‟s)by sensitizing them on the gender inequality faced by married female workers. The reason is connected with biological factors. Only women can give a birth, but because of the maternity leave they are excluded from a market for couples of months or even years. There is a still very strong social pressure that only woman who has a child can be fulfilled in life. Very often, women decided to quit their jobs, because they feel like juggling work and family life is too difficult. Women which decided to keep their jobs after having a child have two occupations: the one at work and the one at home. Employment sex segregation, like discontinuous employment, is often portrayed as the product of rational choices by individuals seeking to balance work and family roles.

The study will be beneficial to the society because, it will reveal the substantive influence of employment on marital relationship irrespective of the gender, age and length of marriage. In essence, the findings of this study stands to establish the fact, that negative influence of employment on marital relationship can-not ignored because it may lead to divorce with serious implications to children who burn the negative effects and the society will pay for it in terms of anti-social behaviour such as raping, armed robbery, kidnapping, cultism and so on that will be exhibited by the uneducated child from broken home.

The world will find the findings from this study useful as the findings from this study will bring to limelight the influence of employment on the their marital relationship and some of the counseling techniques to be adopted in resolving marital problem between working couple without experiencing divorce. Because, a working woman assists the husband financially and peaceful marital relationship lead to happy family life

The findings of this study will provide the platform for research community to give more priorities to this area of study and expand the scope of which this study is unable to cover in the nearest future.  The findings of this study will also serve as reference point for further research to students who are ready to learn by providing a viable source of information to enhance learning and research in this area of study.

1.8 Scope and Delimitation of the Study

This study covered all married female employees of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria.

The study is limited to academic, and non-academic and non-staff female employees of the Faculty of Education, Faculty of sciences, Faculty of Social Sciences and Faculty of Arts, Main campus, Samaru, Zaria. The study was also limited to influence of employment on marital relationship, working hour and length of marriage.  The study is delimited to other faculties in Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria such as: Faculty of agriculture, faculty of medicines and others.

EFFECT OF EMPLOYMENT ON MARITAL BOND AMONG FEMALE EMPLOYEES OF AHMADU BELLO UNIVERSITY ZARIA, NIGERIA