Inter-spousal communication: A means for achieving concordant fertility goals

Background:Spousal communication strategy has gained attention as an effective means of reducing couple’s fertility preferences, its continuous measurement cannot be overemphasised in literature
Objecive:This study examined concordance and discordance in the desired number of children among couples in Nigeria.
Methods:The study used the 2013 Couple dataset of Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey. The method of data analyses involved univariate, chi-square and binary logistic regression.
Results:The result showed that 34% of couples agreed on common fertility desires, while 66% disagreed. The logistic regression analysis using Likelihood Ratio test, showed that couples communication significantly explained the indirect effects of background variables on concordant fertility desire (P<0.001).
Conclusion:We therefore, recommend that couples’ communication on family size preferences be encouraged by programs geared towards achieving SDG-3,5 aimed at improving women and child health and gender equality in decision making.

Keywords
Inter-spousal communication; couple; concordance; fertility; SDG; Nigeria