Gender Assessment of Coping Strategies Adopted by Rural Households During Economic Recession: A Case of Osun State, Nigeria

Summary The study assessed coping strategies adopted during economic recession by male and female members of rural households in Osun State, Nigeria. The study specifically examined the perceived causes of economic recession, investigated the perceived effects and identified the coping strategies adopted by the male and female members of the rural households during economic recession and their level of adoption. A multistage procedure was used to select 120 respondents from 6 local Government Areas of the State. An interview schedule was used to collect data from the respondents. The collected data were analysed using appropriate descriptive and inferential statistics such as frequency counts, percentages, means and independent T-test analysis. The mean ages of the male and female respondents were 45.2 ± 14.1 years and 37 ± 12.6 years respectively. The majority of the males (78.3%) and females (80%) were married with the mean household size of 7 ± 3 people for the male and 6 ± 2 for the female respondents. The cause of economic recession mostly perceived by the male and female respondents was poor economic planning (mean=3.87, 3.77), while prioritizing spending (mean=2.80, 2.52) was the most adopted strategy by both males and females. No significant difference was found in the effects of economic recession on the male and female respondents (t = -0.19; p >0.05) and likewise no significant difference was found in their economic recession coping strategies (t=0.115; p ≥ 0.05). The study concluded that there was no significant difference in the economic recession coping strategies between the male and female members of rural households in the study area.