Decision Making Power Among Married and Unmarried Women
© Kamla-Raj 2008
Stud. Home Comm. Sci., 2(1): 43-50 (2008)
An Analysis of Decision-Making Power among Married and Unmarried Women
Muzamil Jan* and Shubeena Akhtar Extension and Communication, Institute of Home Science, University of Kashmir, Jamia Masjid, Wahab Sahab, Srinagar 190 002, Jammu and Kashmir, India * Mobile: 9419747179, *E-mail: muzamil_research@mail.com
KEYWORDS Women. Decision-Making Power. Fertility. Children and Empowerment ABSTRACT Decision making process is generally influenced by the level of knowledge. Women are the integral part of family and vital force in the socio-economic progress. The present study is undertaken to analyse the Decision-Making Power among married and unmarried women. Scale regarding ‘Decision Making Power among Women’ constructed by Jan (2004) was used on 100 women, selected through multi-stage sampling method. The paper reveals that there is no significant differences between married and unmarried women regarding their decision making power. However, highly significant differences are observed, between married and unmarried women, related to their empowerment. Women generally possess low decision making power and are mainly dependent on masculine and/or familial decision making.
INTRODUCTION Women play a crucial role in the economic welfare of the family. Women perform different tasks depending on their Socio-economic structure, number of people in the family, the nature of professions they are involved in and many other factors (Reddy and Narayan 1987). Decisions made in home management ranges in importance from major once in a lifetime. For example, choice of a marriage partner is indeed an important decision and not to be taken lightly, but it is only in fairy tales that they live happily ever after (Knoll 1973). In the upper income groups, the type of home and the duties of women may vary greatly in the conservative or traditional home and in the modern home (Megha 1990). The authoritarian character of the
Stud. Home Comm. Sci., 2(1): 43-50 (2008)
An Analysis of Decision-Making Power among Married and Unmarried Women
Muzamil Jan* and Shubeena Akhtar Extension and Communication, Institute of Home Science, University of Kashmir, Jamia Masjid, Wahab Sahab, Srinagar 190 002, Jammu and Kashmir, India * Mobile: 9419747179, *E-mail: muzamil_research@mail.com
KEYWORDS Women. Decision-Making Power. Fertility. Children and Empowerment ABSTRACT Decision making process is generally influenced by the level of knowledge. Women are the integral part of family and vital force in the socio-economic progress. The present study is undertaken to analyse the Decision-Making Power among married and unmarried women. Scale regarding ‘Decision Making Power among Women’ constructed by Jan (2004) was used on 100 women, selected through multi-stage sampling method. The paper reveals that there is no significant differences between married and unmarried women regarding their decision making power. However, highly significant differences are observed, between married and unmarried women, related to their empowerment. Women generally possess low decision making power and are mainly dependent on masculine and/or familial decision making.
INTRODUCTION Women play a crucial role in the economic welfare of the family. Women perform different tasks depending on their Socio-economic structure, number of people in the family, the nature of professions they are involved in and many other factors (Reddy and Narayan 1987). Decisions made in home management ranges in importance from major once in a lifetime. For example, choice of a marriage partner is indeed an important decision and not to be taken lightly, but it is only in fairy tales that they live happily ever after (Knoll 1973). In the upper income groups, the type of home and the duties of women may vary greatly in the conservative or traditional home and in the modern home (Megha 1990). The authoritarian character of the