Introduction: Housewives report more chronic illnesses than employed women and housewives are more likely to rate their health situation as either poor or fair than employed women. Poor health can deter a woman from seeking or keeping a job and this appears to be a major reason why poor health is reported more frequently by housewives than employed women.
Purpose: This work investigated the influence health bears on women’s employment in Cameroon.
Methodology: It utilized the expo-factor research design. Secondary data from the Demographic Health Survey (DHS) in Cameroon for 1991, 1998, 2004, 2011 and 2018 was also used in this work. The Instrumental Variable Probit Model and Control Function were used to analyze the data.
Findings: Health capture by BMI had a negative and statistical significant effect on women’s employment. Other variables that positively and significantly influenced women employment were education, husband education, husband’s occupation, marital status, region of origin and lifetime sex partners on the one hand. On the other hand, the woman’s age, wealth levels, age at first birth, religion and year negatively and significantly affected the likelihood of her being employed. Factors that positively and significantly influenced women’s health were education, husband’s education, skipping meals and religion. In this vein, Muslims and Animists were significantly associated with lower BMI and better health compared to Catholics. On the other hand; age, husband’s occupation, lifetime sex partners, women’s employment, use of modern contraceptives, husband’s age, age at first birth, respondent’s occupation negatively and statistically significantly influenced women’s health. It was concluded that as women’s health worsens (BMI increase), the likelihood that they were employed reduced.
Unique contribution to theory, practice and policy: This study recommends compulsory health insurance for all workers especially female workers and the effective implementation of the much talk of universal health coverage in Cameroon.
First-birth Timing, Marital History, and Women’s Health at Midlife