Infant-Child Mortality and Maternal Employment in Nigeria

Recently, scholars have focused on assessing economic progress within countries via some important development indicators including infant-child mortality and maternal employment. These are in tandem with the sustainable development goals (SDGs) whose target is 2030. To model the impact of child and infant mortality on nursing mothers` employment status, the study adopted the Grossman (1972) theoretical framework while employing the Fully Modified Ordinary Least Square (FMOLS). Prior to this, some preliminary test was conducted including the descriptive statistics, correlation test, and the unit-roots test. The Johansen cointegration was utilized to ascertain whether the variables cointegrate. The outcome of the trace and maximum eigenvalue tests supports the fact that there is at minimum five cointegrating equation. Furthermore, the FMOLS test confirmed that the influence of infant mortality on mother`s employment is negative, while the relationship between child mortality and mothers` employment was positive. Owing to the above, the study concluded that the contextual evidence is essential for culturally sensitive child survival interventions and programmes as well as improved women's formal employment participation which favours Nigerian child survival. Lastly, the government should provide adequate education and support for mothers in order to reduce drastically both child and infant mortality.