POVERTY INDICATORS AND SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS OF RURAL WOMEN IN ABIA STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

The study investigated the relationship between poverty indicators and socioeconomic status of rural women in Abia State, Nigeria. Two research questions and two null hypotheses guided the study. The study which was conducted in Abia State Nigeria, adopted correlational research design. The population for the study consists of all rural women aged 18-60 years residing in rural areas of Abia state. A sample size of 384 women from Abia State was used for the study, the sample was determined using Cochran’s formula. The research adopted a multi-stage sampling technique. A structured questionnaire constructed by the researcher was used for data collection. The instrument was validated by 3 experts from 2 from Adult and Continuing Education and 1 from Educational Measurement and Evaluation. The reliability of the instrument was established using Cronbach Alpha. The data collected for this study was analyzed using Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient (PPMCC) for the research questions while linear regression analysis was used to test the hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. The result of the analysis revealed that there exists strong positive relationship between income level, women access to basic needs and the socio-economic status of rural women in Abia State. Subsequently, there was a significant relationship between women income level, access to financial services, and the socio-economic status of rural women in Abia State. The study among other things recommended that Government and educational stakeholder should create, programs, interventions, seminars, and workshops to enlighten the people especially women in the rural areas on the importance of women education and its relevance to their income level for a sustainable and standard living in the society.