Effects of Educational Assortative Mating on Female Labour Market Outcomes in Cameroon

Ebenezer Lemven wirba, University of Namibia
Fiennasah Akem, University of Dschang

Using the recent three waves of Cameroon Demographic Health Surveys, this paper investigates the effects of the degree of positive educational assortative mating on female full-time employment and occupational choices among married women. To achieve the set objectives, we employed the Control function Probit and the Control function multinomial probit. The control function probit results show that positive educational assortative mating increases the likelihood of full-time employment by 14.4%. Also, the control function multinomial probit results indicate a positive association between educational assortative mating and the probability of choosing professional, clerical, sales, and service occupations, and a negative relationship with the likelihood of choosing agricultural and skilled manual work. Policy implications suggest the promoting policies aimed at ensuring equal access to quality education for all individuals. Such measures can help alleviate educational disparities and enhance labour market outcomes for females. Additionally, policies supporting dual-career couples with high educational levels.