EFFECT OF EMPLOYMENT ON WIVES ROLE PEREORMANCE AMONG FEDERAL CIVIL SERVANTS IN ZARIA CITY, NIGERIA  

ABSTRACT

This study examined the influence of employment on the wives role performance among Federal Civil Servants in Zaria metropolis. Five research objectives were postulated and five null research hypotheses in line with research questions were posed and tested. A sample of 377 couples from 7 Federal Government Establishments drawn from a population of 3781 couples, through simple random sampling technique. The descriptive survey design was adopted in carrying out the study. The test re-test and Cronbach alpha method were used to estimate reliability of the research instrument. A coefficient of 0.75 and alpha value of 0.60 were obtained as reliability estimate for the instruments. Mean and standard deviation were used to provide answers to the research questions, t- test was used to test the five null hypotheses formulated for the study.  The hypotheses were tested at the .05 level of significance using SPSS. Some were retained while some were rejected. Among other things, the study found that there is significant difference in the influence of employment on the wives role performance to their husbands, thereby retaining the hypotheses. And rejecting the hypothesis; that there is significant difference in the influence of employment on the marital role performance of wives on child up-bringing, retaining the hypothesis; that there isno significant difference in the influence of employment on the marital role performance of wives to their in-laws and domestic obligations, retaining the hypothesis. The study recommends, among other things, that women should prioritise their roles to their husbands in their schedule of duties, always be at the service of their children, and there should be a consensus between the women and inlaws on the definitive role of each in the family.

 

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

                   1.1       Background to the Study

One of the remarkable changes which appeared in the Nigerian labour market decades ago is the increase in the number of married women in labour force participation. According to Adebayo (2011), unlike before, womenfolk are now involved in various aspects of work, as professionals, artisans, among others. The influx of women into the workforce has social and economic consequences on them and the society. Kabeer (1997), recorded the percentages of women of working age in employment as rising from 43.3% in 1970 to 57.5% in 1990. It was projected that 62.6% of all women from 25 – 40 years will be seeking jobs by year 2000. What the above indicates is that women would constitute 47% of the total global workforce by 2005.Zaria is one of the provinces that make up the central high plains of Northern Nigeria at an altitude of 550.700 meters Zaria city, on Sokoto road (Sawa and Buhari, 2011). Zaria is a heterogeneous city with about 1,490,000 population. It is accessible from different parts of the country by air via Kaduna, Kano, and Abuja and by rail and road via Kaduna, Jos, Kano and Sokoto. Zaria Metropolis comprises Zaria Local Government Area, and Sabon-Gari Local Government Area.

Several reasons have been given for married women‘s participation in employment or the labour force. Employment is an economic phenomenon that gives people the opportunity to render services for which they are paid. According to Heathfield (2014), it is a relationship between two parties usually based on a contract where work is paid for, where one party, which may be a corporation or other entity is the employer and the other is the employee. Employee works in return for payment. In Canning‘s view (2015), employment is an agreement between an employee and an employer that the employee will provide certain services on the job, and in the employer‘s designated workplace to facilitate the accomplishment of the employer‘s organization‘s goals and mission, in return for compensation. Cassirer and Addati (2007) stated that family responsibilities form the basic reason for employment. They affirmed that family responsibilities are important both for steering women toward employment and for constraining their income earning activities as economy workers. In the labour market, married women have taken big steps forward. Propelled by the need to have a say on what constitutes the family expenses that should be prioritized, they have engaged in money making schemes and have also contributed in no small measure to the upkeep of the family. In establishments where they are employed, some established by the Federal Government, in this case, Federal establishments, their positions as salary earners empower them economically, and should make it necessary for them to affect the lives of their families.

Marital role performances are the duties women are expected to do both to their husbands, like performing their conjugal duties, cooking, making beds, keeping their houses clean and lots more; to their children, like washing their clothes, helping in their academic work, teaching them morals, bringing them up in the way of God, etc; and to the in-laws, like maintaining a healthy relationship with the in-laws, at home, like keeping the home clean, and making it welcoming and so on. In Nigeria, women have been saddled with roles that see them almost equated with men in relation to the contribution they make to feed the family. Abolarin (2004) stated that among the Igbos, married women are expected to be industrious and to contribute as food providers through their farming and trading activities for their economic sustenance. A husband is expected to provide his wife with portions of land for cultivating crops which she manages with trading. There is a similar case among the Yorubas, where a married woman is expected to participate in trading with the inducement of loan from her husband. She is also obliged to contribute to her husband‘s farm. Additionally, she can raise small live stocks like poultry and animal husbandry; do hardwork such as cloth weaving, hair dressing and braiding, tie and dye as in-house business (Afonja, 1986). In a similar vein, Yesufu (2000) made an observation that the non-Muslim Hausa mothers participate in farming, trading and raising small live stocks. Under the confines of purdah, the Muslim mothers undertake food processing and prepare cooked foods which are sold by their children who serve as intermediaries. In essence, mothers are engaged in commercial ventures which allow fulfillment of family role expectation.

However, in spite of the benefits families derive from women‘s contribution to the family upkeep and their role in the development of the economy, made possible by their status as employed married women, their job more or less strips them of the responsibilities of mothers. Nwosuji (2015), in his view, stated that today‘s wives rarely get back home before 8.00pm daily, as they go in pursuit of their professions and careers, leaving the children and their families at the mercy of nannies as  there is hardly any female friendly organization in Nigeria, and this has accounted for the disequilibrium in the family. The consequence is that with time, women become physically and emotionally disconnected from their families. There is no disputing the fact that when women work, they complement the effort of their husbands, and the family is better off, but looking at what the family suffers because of their almost always not being there to take care of them, one wonders whether their role as working married women is really worth it. It is against this background, therefore, that the researcher deems it necessary to research into the Perception of employment on the influence of wives marital role performance among couples in federal civil servants in Zaria metropolis.

 

                   1.2       Statement of the Problem

Women are the pillars of society and play an important role in society, in all fields of human endeavour. Most employed mothers are either engaged in full time or part time employment, and make much contribution to the upkeep of the family. But in spite of this contribution they make, they fail in the role expected of them by the children and husband in that their jobs require them to adhere to the ideal worker‘s norm which means that their children‘s care is left at the hands of others, especially nannies. Also, because of the long hours that women work and the commitment to their jobs, they come back home tired and worn out, unable to give more attention to their husbands and kids or even perform their household obligations. Nigeria being a male dominated society, women face problems in various places of work, which in turn affect their family life, especially with regard to performing domestic chores.

The demands of work and raising a healthy family, child-bearing, child up-bringing and domestic chores keep most Nigerian working mothers struggling on how to find a common ground between having enough time and strength to perform work and family roles satisfactorily, and paying attention to issues that shape and define their lives as individuals who have aims that should be achieved. Employed mothers often pass through strains in order to fulfill the work, wife and mother expectations simultaneously. Based on these observations, this study tried to find out the influence of employment on wives role performance among Federal Civil Servants in Zaria metropolis, Nigeria.

 

1.3       Objectives of the study.

The following objectives guided the study:

1. Determine the difference between male and female federal civil servants on theinfluence of employment on wives role performance to their husbands in Zaria metropolis.
2. Investigate the difference between male and female federal civil servants on theinfluence of employment on the wives‘ child-bearing..
3. Assess the difference between male and female federal civil servants on theinfluence of employment on childup-bringing.
4. Determine the difference between male and femalefederal civil servants on the influence ofemployment on domestic obligations among women inZaria metropolis.
5. Examine the difference between male and female among federal civil servants on theinfluence of employment on wives role obligationsto their in-laws.

 

1.4        Research Question.

The following research questions guided the study:

1. What is the difference between male and female federal civil servantson the influence of employment on marital role performance of wives to their husbands?
2. What is the difference between male and female federal civil servants on the influence of employment on marital role performanceof women in relation to child-bearing?
3. What is the difference between male and female federal civil servantson the influence ofemployment on child up-bringing?
4. What is the difference between male and femalefederal civil service on theinfluence of employment on wives role performance in relation todomestic obligations?
5. What is the difference between male and female infederal civil service on theinfluence of employment on wives role performance in relationto their in-laws?

 

                   1.5       Research Hypotheses

This study is to find out the difference in the perception of male and female on the  influence of employment onwives role performance among federal civil servants in Zaria metropolis. The following null hypotheses guided the study and tested at p≤0.05.

1. There is no significant difference between male and female federal civil servantson the influence of wives‘ employment on theirmarital role performance to their husbands.
2. There is no significant differencebetween male and female on the influence ofemployment on wives roles performance in relation to child-bearing among women in federal civil service in Zaria metropolis.
3. There is no significant difference between male and female on the influence of employment on wives‘ role performance in relation to child up-bringing infederal civil service in Zaria metropolis.
4. There is no significant difference between male and female federal civil servantsfederal civil servantson the influence of employment on marital role performance in relation to domestic obligations .
5. There is no significant differencebetween male and female federal civil servants on the influence of employment on the wives‘ role obligations towards their in-laws.

 

                   1.6       Basic Assumptions of the Study

Based on available literatures on women participation in the labour force, this study proceeds on the assumptions that:

• A corresponding relationship exists between married women‘s employment and its influence on their role performance to their husbands.
• Women‘s employment has a high potentiality of affecting child-bearing among working women.
• The role performance of children‘s expectations and up-bringing among working women is influenced and to a large extent determined by employment.
• The domestic obligations of women to their families are influenced by their status as employed married women.
• Women‘s employment in their marital state affects the status of their family living standard.

 

                   1.7       Significance of the Study

This study is informed by the need to explore the influence of employment on the wives role performance among federal civil servants in Zaria metropolis. In deploying

Herzberg‘s Theory of Motivators and Hygiene Factors, Maslow‘s Hierarchy of Needs and

Conflict Theory as framework of analysis, this study foregrounds the phenomenon of women employment in an attempt to interrogate the necessity for women to pursue their interests in the marriage equation.

It is hoped that the results of this research will benefit women who are engaged in one form of employment or the other. Work and family upkeep are two separate phenomena that operate at contrasting frequency. Therefore, the result of the findings will provide women who are married and employed with a viable recipe for striking a balance between commitment to their jobs and family responsibilities, to avoid falling short of the expectations of each.

The findings of this research will no doubt be beneficial to husbands. It will reposition them to complement the efforts of women with their role performance to the family, given that being employed as married women is demanding; besides the fact that they also contribute to the family up-keep. The findings of the study will benefit employers in no small measure. It is needful for employers to have an insight into the challenges that beset married women who are employed, as they (the women) navigate the terrain of survival. This study, therefore, will make them see the need for employed married women to be allowed to enjoy some form of leverage and concession to enable them to adequately perform their marital roles as well as attend to their office duties. It will also help the employers of labour to know the limit to which they can stretch women in their places of work.

The findings of this research will also be beneficial to counselors. Since no research or study has been carried out on this topic, to the best of the knowledge of the researcher, there is therefore no doubt that counselors will find this study very invaluable in that it will equip them with the information considered very fundamental to approaching issues that border on what the study has as its central focus. In addition, this study will benefit future researchers who would want to carry out a study that will have some semblance with this, and therefore will become a reference point, besides extending the knowledge base that exists presently in this field.

The government and the society at large will find the findings of this study very useful. Since women are as important as men in the work force, the government will see the need to pave way for a legislation that will put employed married women in a better position to serve the country and still be able to meet the family at the point of their needs.

 

                   1.8       Scope and Delimitation of the Study

The scope of this study comprised working married women in seven federal institutions in Zaria, Kaduna State, and is delimited to Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria,andAhmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital Shika, reason being that the opinions of women working in these seven institutions were helpful in analyzing data on the extent employment influences the marital role performance among working married women. The seven institutions under study are Nigerian Institute of Transport Technology

(NITT), National Animal Production Research Institute (NAPRI), Institute for Agricultural Research (IAR), Nigeria College of Aviation Technology (NCAT), Nigerian Research

Institute for Chemical Technology (NARICT), Nigerian Institute of Leather and Science

Technology (NILEST), and Federal College of Education (FCE) Zaria.

EFFECT OF EMPLOYMENT ON WIVES ROLE PEREORMANCE AMONG FEDERAL CIVIL SERVANTS IN ZARIA CITY, NIGERIA  

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