Differences between socio-economic characteristics of male and female household heads and their households in Cameroon

Teke Johnson Takwa, Institut de Formation et de Recherche Démographiques (IFORD)

Results of the 2005 General Population and Housing Census of Cameroon show that enormous differences exist between socio-economic features of male and female household heads as well as their respective households.The educational, marital, employment and other features of female household heads show that they and their households are generally worse off socio-economically than their male counterparts and their households. The proportion of female household heads who are economically vulnerable (those do not have a personal source of revenue such as from revenue from pensions, rents or a wage), is more than double that of male household heads. More female households heads than their male counterparts are employed in the informal sector. Households headed by females have more than two and a haif times less chance than those of their male counterparts to host an adult who is employed. Female headed households are therefore; disportionately representated among poor or vulnerable households in Cameroon.