Factors influencing unpaid domestic work : empirical evidence from Cameroon

This study analyzes the factors influencing participation in unpaid household tasks in Cameroon, with a particular focus on differences between men and women. The main objective is to identify the individual, family, and social determinants of time spent on household tasks and caregiving, in order to inform public policies aimed at reducing gender inequalities and women’s workload. The study uses data from the fourth Cameroon Household Survey (ECAM 4), conducted in 2014 by the National Institute of Statistics of Cameroon. A composite indicator of unpaid domestic work is constructed using principal component analysis (PCA) to group several domestic and caregiving activities into a single continuous measure. To analyze the determinants of this work, an econometric linear regression model using the ordinary least squares method is estimated. The results show that unpaid domestic work remains highly gendered in Cameroon and falls primarily on women.