Health, Gender And The Labour Market: Evidence From Ghana

Research Article
Prince Donkor., Samuel Agyei Nimo., Benjamin Adjei., Benjamin Adjei Danquah and Wilson Kwaku Nimsaah
DOI: 
xxx-xxxxx-xxxx
Subject: 
science
KeyWords: 
-
Abstract: 

The effect of health on the outcomes of the labour market in the world and Ghana to be precise cannot be underestimated. This study therefore looks at how ill-health, both own and that of spouse, affects hours of work and wage rate of males and females on the Ghanaian labour market. The data set used is the fifth round of the Ghana Living and Standard Survey, also known as the GLSS 5. The Heckman’s two stage method used found out that the impact of spousal health is more prominent in determining hours of work than own ill-health. Also the effect of ill-health of one’s spouse is very pronounced for males compared to their female counterparts. The findings revealed that men whose spouses stop work due to illness tend to increase their labour supply as against those whose spouses experienced no illness. The result, however, differs to what is observed in the female model. Also, males who worked or whose spouses worked though sick, supplied less hours of work to the labour market. It must be noted that morbidity barely influence wage rate except for males whose spouses experience sickness.