Examining the Spatial Structural Determinants of Child Poverty in Nigeria

In spite of the global and national concerted efforts reflected in the goal four of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) to half the incidence of child mortality by 2015, Nigerian children are still greatly affected by the incidence of poverty vis-à-vis malnutrition. Government attempts at reducing child poverty and malnutrition through formulation and implementation of policies, and huge investments have yet to yield significant effects, as the country is still ranked among the top countries of the world plagued with child poverty and malnutrition. This can be attributed to the non-consideration of the heterogeneous nature of child poverty and spatial contiguity of geographical units in their designs. Using spatial error regression techniques to analyze data from Demographic Health Survey, we examined spatial differentiation in the relationships that generate child poverty and further explore their determining factors. Child poverty was found to be more prominent in the Northern region of the country. However, results from the analysis also established that there is a spillover of child poverty existed among the GPZs. While social and economic factors that influence probability of child poverty varied across different Geopolitical Zones (GPZs). Results also showed that local-area processes are at play with implications for more nuanced theoretical models and anti-child poverty policies that consider systematic differences in factors contributing to child poverty according to the social, infrastructural, agro ecological and economic contexts