Women's empowerment and educational equity: Analyzing gendered household education expenditures in Cameroon

Abstract

This study investigates the effect of women’s participation in household decision-making on educational inequalities in Cameroon. Drawing on data from the fourth Cameroonian household survey conducted in 2014 (Ecam4) by the National Institute of Statistics, the analysis employs a two-stage Heckman selection model to examine the relationship between women’s decision-making power, measured through their educational attainment, and household expenditure on girls’ education. The results reveal that the gender of the child significantly shapes the distribution of education spending, with boys often receiving a larger share. While women’s involvement in household decision-making shows no significant impact on overall education expenditure across all children, a disaggregated analysis presents a different picture. At the secondary school level, women’s participation in decision-making has a positive and significant effect on household spending for girls, suggesting that maternal influence becomes more pronounced as children progress to higher levels of schooling. Moreover, the interaction between women’s decision-making power and girls’ education expenditure shows that such participation increases investment in girls’ education by 17.5%. These findings emphasize that empowering women within households has the potential to reduce gender disparities in education, particularly at the secondary level, where inequalities are often most entrenched. By strengthening women’s decision-making role, policymakers can promote more equitable educational investment, ultimately contributing to long-term progress in narrowing gender inequality.