Peer-reviewed article
The Effect of Maternal Labour Force Participation on Child Well-Being in Cameroon
Ndah Justus Nkezi, Dobdinga Cletus Fonchamnyo, Ibrahim Nji Ngouhouo ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-sonnet-5-5This paper looks at how mothers' participation in the labour force relates to child well-being in Cameroon. It uses data from the 2018 Cameroon Demographic and Health Survey. The authors use an instrumental variable method (IV2SLS) to account for the possibility that mothers' work and child well-being influence each other. They report that maternal labour force participation has a positive and statistically significant effect on child well-being. They recommend that policies keep promoting women's education and emancipation so that more women can take part in the labour force.
Key points
- Data come from the 2018 Cameroon Demographic and Health Survey.
- The IV2SLS technique was used to control for endogeneity.
- Maternal labour force participation had a positive and statistically significant effect on child well-being.
- The authors say the effect is more a matter of secondary education, linked to inadequate education and training.
- The paper recommends that policies continue to support women's education and emancipation to increase their labour force participation.
Limitations
The abstract does not say how child well-being was measured, how large the effect is, or which instrument was used. The study is a secondary analysis of survey data, so it does not evaluate a specific programme, and the causal claim depends on the instrument being valid.
Abstract
This paper assessed the effect of maternal labour force participation on child well-being in Cameroon using data extracted from the 2018 Cameroon Demographic and Health Survey. The Instrumental Two- Stage- Least Squares (IV2SLS) technique, controlling for endogeneity was employed to analyse the effect of maternal labour force participation on child well-being in Cameroon. The results of the Instrumental Two- Stage- Least Squares (IV2SLS) revealed that maternal labour force participation had a positive and statistically significant effect on child well-being in Cameroon. Decomposing maternal labour force participation effect on child well-being, we realised that it was more of an issue of secondary education due to inadequate education and training. Based on the results, the paper recommends that development policies should continue to adhere to international conventions which promote the education of women and their emancipation so as to enhance their participation in the labour force in a bid to enhance child well-being.