Family structure and decision-making power among working and non-working women

Pages: 574-580
Priyaranjan Maral and Vipul Kumar (Department of Psychology, University of Allahabad, Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh)

The present study aims at understanding the role of family structure and decision-making power among working and non-working women. In addition, to investigate the autonomy of women in decision-making among working and non-working women under a different family structure like nuclear and joint family. Total 272 urban married working and non-working women (144 nuclear & 128 joint) families were taken from Allahabad city. The mean age of participants was 35.94 years. All urban married working women and non-working women have at least one child and living with her husband/family. A questionnaire was used; each question has three responses- Self, Husband, and Joint with the Husband. The results showed there were significant differences in decision-making about household and social issues among working and non-working women. In a nuclear family, the involvement of non-working and working women was higher in comparison to the joint family. In both nuclear and joint family, non-working women faced more interference of family members in decision making. The result also revealed that the decision-making power of non-working women is higher in personal and social issues in a joint family but they preferred joint decision frequently. The results also highlight that working women involved in decision-making process more in comparison to the non-working women in the nuclear family and also preferred joint decisions. In addition to, the participation of working women in each issue was a self as well as the joint was higher in comparison to the non-working women. There is still a need to enhance women’s sovereignty and their role in decision making at household and job level in the Indian context.