A STUDY OF SOME SOCIOECONOMIC VARIABLES IN RELATION TO WELLBEING OF INHABITANTS IN TORO BAUCHI STATE

ABSTRACT This study investigates the influence of socioeconomic and demographic factors on the wellbeing of inhabitants in Toro Local Government Area (LGA), Nigeria. Using a cross-sectional survey design, primary data were collected from 500 respondents through structured questionnaires. The wellbeing of respondents was assessed across domains such as health satisfaction, access to food, community safety, availability of basic necessities, life improvement, and community participation. Both bivariate (contingency tables and chi-square tests) and multivariate (binary logistic regression) analyses were employed to examine the relationships between selected socioeconomic variables and wellbeing outcomes. The results revealed that education, income, access to healthcare, employment status, and household size were significantly associated with wellbeing (p < 0.001), while gender, age, and religion showed no significant effects. Logistic regression confirmed that higher income, tertiary education, and healthcare access substantially increased the odds of reporting high wellbeing, whereas unemployment, informal employment, and larger household size reduced wellbeing outcomes. The model explained approximately 30% of the variance in wellbeing and achieved strong predictive performance (AUC = 0.83). The findings underscore the importance of improving access to education, healthcare, and stable employment opportunities while addressing household-level economic pressures to enhance wellbeing in rural communities. The study concludes that socioeconomic factors are the primary drivers of subjective wellbeing in Toro LGA, with implications for policy interventions aimed at poverty reduction, social protection, and inclusive development.