Fulfilment of Marital Role Expectations as Perceived by Employed Mothers in FCT Abuja: Implications for Marital Counselling

The paper examined fulfilment of marital roles of employed mothers, for the purpose of helping them to balance their commitment to their domestic and work demands. Respondents comprised of 250 career mothers who are full time employees in public or private enterprises in Abuja, Nigerias Federal Capital Territory. A research instrument titled Employed Mothers Fulfilment of Marital Roles Questionnaire (EMFMRQ) designed by the researcher, validated through expert judgment with reliability coefficient of 0.86 was used to collect the data. Mean and standard deviation were used to analyse respondents perception to ascertain the frequency of fulfilment of each role. The t-test analysis was used to certify the significance of responses on account of type of employment and number of children. The result showed irregularity in fulfilment of most of the roles considered. Type of employment and number of children were found to be significant factors of fulfilment of marital role expectations. Counselling implications on account of the findings include the need for dual-earner couples to live together to assist each other in child care and home chores. Also, employed mothers should leverage on the assistance of child care service agents, friends and relations to cope with the demands of work and family.