The Role of Social Participation for Women's Ability to Combine Motherhood and Employment Security in Mali and Ghana

This study investigates the role of social participation for the achievements of women in employment security and their fertility choices. In Capability terms, this implies exploring the circumstances in which women combine motherhood and employment security. Employment security is defined as having access to a job with more desirable characteristics, such as stable payment or in a more formal sector of the economy. The DHS and Afrobarometer data are used for two African countries: Ghana and Mali. Estimations from a multilevel model suggest that the resources of the context are a relevant explanatory factor for female employment security. The latent contextual effect for employment security is more pronounced in Mali (33%) than in Ghana (17%). Results confirm that the two countries are very different despite certain common effects. In both countries, social participation seems to play a role in the fertility-labour link, especially for women with more than four children.