In southeastern Nigeria, several interconnected processes of social change are combining to delay parenthood. Most of the demographic and social sciences literature examining the postponement of parenthood has paid primary attention to women. To address this gap, this article foregrounds the changing social landscape of masculinity as a significant context within which to situate these demographic changes. At the core of Nigerian men's perceptions, decisions, and behaviors with regard to delaying fatherhood is a fundamental contradiction, one that seems to be common in many settings—at least many African settings—of contemporary demographic transition. The contradiction is that while the postponement of parenthood is associated historically with positive social and economic indicators, when Nigerian men articulate their rationales for delaying fatherhood (and marriage) they commonly describe feelings of uncertainty connected to a sense of struggle and deprivation. This article connects men's anxieties about—and delays embarking on—marriage and parenthood to their experiences of economic uncertainty, and specifically to the perceived need for money as the foundation for successful reproduction.

中文翻译：

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尼日利亚的男子气概，金钱和育儿推迟

在尼日利亚东南部，数个相互联系的社会变革过程正在组合在一起，以延迟生育时间。大部分有关推迟生育的人口和社会科学文献都把重点放在了女性身上。为了解决这一差距，本文将不断变化的男性气质社会景观作为解决这些人口变化的重要背景。尼日利亚男子在延迟生育方面的观念，决定和行为的核心是一个基本矛盾，这一矛盾似乎在当代人口转型的许多环境（至少在许多非洲环境）中很普遍。矛盾的是，尽管从历史上看，推迟生育与积极的社会和经济指标有关，当尼日利亚男子阐明延迟生育（和结婚）的理由时，他们通常会描述与挣扎和匮乏有关的不确定感。本文将男性对婚姻和生育的焦虑（以及延迟开始的婚姻）与他们的经济不确定性经验联系起来，尤其是与人们认为需要金钱作为成功繁殖的基础有关。