The Effects of Fertility on the Level of Insertion of Women in the Labor Market in Cameroon

Abstract

The total fertility rate remains high in Cameroon while women are more affected by inactivity, unemployment and underemployment compared to men. This study aims to analyze the effects of fertility on the level of insertion of women in the labor market in that country. The level of insertion in the labor market is measured here by a composite indicator constructed from five related employment variables. Breaking from most of the prior studies which have addressed the same issue, infertility is used as instrumental variable of the fertility and an ordinal multinomial logistic regression model is applied to run an econometric analysis from the 2011 DHS country data. The results reveal that the presence of under five children in the households negatively affects the level of insertion of women in the labor market in Cameroon. Nevertheless, that relationship depends on the education level of women as expected, but not on their standards of living. Given that the more educated women are, the less is the importance of the negative effects of their fertility on their insertion level in the labor market, the policies which aim to improve the women’s education and training should be strengthened.