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Women's economic empowerment in sub-Saharan Africa: Evidence from cross-national population data

Author

Listed:
  • Eunice Williams

    (University of Southampton)

  • Heini Vaisanen

    (Institut National d'Études Démographiques (INED))

  • Sabu S. Padmadas

    (University of Southampton)

Abstract

Background: Women’s economic empowerment (WEE) has attracted high-level policy interest, and is recognized as a central, cross-cutting outcome, and the cornerstone for achieving Sustainable Development Goals. However, it lacks a standardised definition and standard, measurable, and comparable indicators, and is plagued by large data gaps, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Objective: We examine the extent of WEE in SSA. Our goal is to identify WEE country typologies explaining the variation in and contributing domains of WEE in each country. Methods: Using recent DHS data in 33 countries, we apply principal component analysis to generate a WEE score based on 9 indicators in order to better understand the contributors underlying this score and derive country typologies. Results: Overall, WEE is low but it varies markedly by country. It is typically explained by educational attainment, employment, and land ownership among women alone or in combination with men. We identified 5 typologies of WEE: (1) instrumental agency explained by high educational attainment, (2) instrumental agency explained by land ownership, (3) individual economic advancement explained by high employment rates, (4) basic-level economic empowerment, and (5) low-level economic empowerment. Conclusions: The level of WEE in SSA varies by country. The factors affecting the level also vary and can be divided into 5 typologies characterising the type of WEE. Contribution: Our results provide timely evidence for the increasing push to achieve WEE and highlight potential priority areas for policy and programme interventions.

Suggested Citation

  • Eunice Williams & Heini Vaisanen & Sabu S. Padmadas, 2022. "Women's economic empowerment in sub-Saharan Africa: Evidence from cross-national population data," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 47(15), pages 415-452.
    • Handle: RePEc:dem:demres:v:47:y:2022:i:15
    DOI: 10.4054/DemRes.2022.47.15
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Williams, Eunice Mueni & Padmadas, Sabu S. & Väisänen, Heini, 2024. "Falling behind in school: Mother’s economic empowerment and its association with children’s grade progression in Malawi," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 106(C).
    2. Bhojani, Alina & Alsager, Alya & McCann, Juliet K. & Joachim, Damas & Kabati, Mary & Jeong, Joshua, 2024. "“If my wife earns more than me, she will force me to do what she wants”: Women’s economic empowerment and family caregiving dynamics in Tanzania," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 179(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    women's economic independence; agency; sub-Saharan Africa; education; employment; Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS); economic growth;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J1 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics
    • Z0 - Other Special Topics - - General

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