Table 2.
Demographic and socio-economic characteristics of mother–child dyads aged 6–23 months in Bale Robe Town, Ethiopia, 2020 (n 597)
| Variables | Maternal employment status | χ2 P-value | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Employed (n 293) | Unemployed (n 304) | ||||
| Number | (%) | Number | (%) | ||
| Maternal age | |||||
| 19–24 | 86 | (48⋅9) | 90 | (51⋅1) | 0⋅001 |
| 25–29 | 100 | (61⋅0) | 64 | (39⋅0) | |
| 30–34 | 50 | (45⋅0) | 61 | (55⋅0) | |
| ≥35 | 57 | (31⋅0) | 89 | (69⋅0) | |
| Mean ± sd | (28⋅5 ± 6⋅1) | (29⋅7 ± 6⋅8) | |||
| Marital status | |||||
| Married | 272 | (48⋅8) | 285 | (51⋅2) | 0⋅654 |
| Divorced/separated | 21 | (52⋅5) | 19 | (47⋅5) | |
| Maternal education | |||||
| Illiterate | 0 | (0⋅0) | 86 | (100⋅0) | 0⋅000 |
| Primary school (1–8) | 93 | (42⋅5) | 126 | (57⋅5) | |
| Secondary school | 105 | (55⋅0) | 86 | (45⋅0) | |
| College and above | 95 | (94⋅1) | 6 | (5⋅9) | |
| Paternal education | |||||
| Illiterate | 26 | (34⋅2) | 50 | (65⋅8) | 0⋅000 |
| Primary school (1–8) | 43 | (32⋅1) | 91 | (67⋅9) | |
| Secondary school | 129 | (44⋅8) | 159 | (55⋅2) | |
| College and above | 95 | (96⋅0) | 4 | (4⋅0) | |
| Paternal occupation | |||||
| Farmer | 88 | (34⋅9) | 164 | (65⋅1) | 0⋅000 |
| Private worker | 46 | (92⋅0) | 4 | (8⋅0) | |
| Government employee | 60 | (96⋅8) | 2 | (3⋅2) | |
| Merchant | 96 | (42⋅9) | 128 | (57⋅1) | |
| Othersa | 3 | (33⋅3) | 6 | (66⋅7) | |
| Head of household | |||||
| Paternal | 139 | (42⋅8) | 186 | (57⋅2) | 0⋅003 |
| Maternal | 36 | (52⋅9) | 32 | (47⋅1) | |
| Both | 118 | (57⋅8) | 86 | (42⋅2) | |
| Wealth status | |||||
| Poor | 90 | (45⋅7) | 107 | (54⋅3) | 0⋅217 |
| Medium | 96 | (47⋅5) | 106 | (52⋅5) | |
| Rich | 107 | (54⋅0) | 91 | (46⋅0) | |
| Family size | |||||
| ≤5 | 200 | (61⋅2) | 127 | (38⋅8) | 0⋅000 |
| >5 | 93 | (34⋅4) | 177 | (65⋅6) | |
| Mean ± sd | (4⋅9 ± 1⋅5) | (6⋅0 ± 1⋅4) | |||
| Age (months) | |||||
| 6–8 months | 42 | (40⋅0) | 63 | (60⋅0) | 0⋅052 |
| 9–11 months | 51 | (57⋅3) | 38 | (42⋅7) | |
| 12–23 months | 200 | (49⋅6) | 203 | (50⋅4) | |
| Mean ± sd | (14⋅5 ± 4⋅8) | (14⋅2 ± 5⋅1) | |||
| Sex of child | |||||
| Female | 142 | (46⋅6) | 163 | (53⋅4) | 0⋅208 |
| Male | 151 | (51⋅7) | 141 | (48⋅3) | |
aDaily labour, none government employee.