Summary: The objective of the policy brief on gender and the labour market in Cameroon is to assess the differentiated access of men and women to employment opportunities, as well as the conditions of exercise with regard to the employment promotion and gender equality policies put in place by the Government. The data used are those of the third Survey on Employment and the Informal Sector (EESI3) carried out by the INS in 2021. The results allow us to note the following main findings:
– Regarding the share of the workforce, with 61.4%, men are more present than women, whose rate is 47.3%. However, these women have an entrepreneurial spirit in the amorphous sector where they mostly operate. By socio-professional category, nearly seven out of ten women (68.3%) work as self-employed women compared to 48.2% of men. However, they work in sectors requiring few qualifications, mainly because of the mismatch between the training acquired and the jobs offered by the labour market.
– In terms of pay, 55.4 per cent of women and 40.9 per cent of men had an hourly income from their main job below the standard set by the regulations in force.
– Regarding the rate of labour underutilization, 28.7% of women are affected compared to 24.1% of men.
– With regard to underemployment, 18.7% of women and 18.4% of men worked fewer hours per week compared to the current regulation of 40 hours. Moreover, 55.4% of women and 40.9% of men had an hourly income from their main job below the standard set by the regulations in force. This level of underemployment remains higher than the Government’s employment objectives set out in the SND30, which intends to reduce the overall underemployment rate to 50.1% by 2030. The above findings suggest the acceleration of the implementation of the guidelines for the promotion of gender and employment contained in the National Development Strategy (SND30), the National Gender Policy (NGP), the Education and Training Sector Strategy (SSEF), the National Employment Policy (NEP) and the Gender-Sensitive Budget Document (GRB).