The Effect of Health Status on Labour Force Participation in Nigeria

ABSTRACT Health status in recent times has been a major concern for developing and under-developed economies. This results from the fact that a healthy population increases labour force participation, productivity and output levels. Poor health has negative effect on participation rate and output. This study examined the effect of health status on labour force participation, across gender and age groups, in Nigeria. An estimation technique to be used is the logistic binary model. Data for the study was obtained from the Nigerian General Household Survey (GHS), 2013. This study adopts objective health as a measure for health status due to data availability. The findings show a negative relationship between activities for daily living and labour force participation across gender. This effect is stronger for females than for males; and for all age groups. This calls for intervention by policy makers and employers of labour to improve health status of the working population for higher participation and in turn, higher outputs.