Women Empowerment
European Journal of Social Sciences – Volume 10, Number 2 (2009)
The Determinants of Women Empowerment in Southern Punjab (Pakistan): An Empirical Analysis
Imran Sharif Chaudhry Associate Professor, Department of Economics, Bahauddin Zakariya University Multan, Pakistan E-mail: imranchaudhry@bzu.edu.pk Farhana Nosheen PhD Scholar, Department of Economics, Bahauddin Zakariya University Multan, Pakistan E-mail: farhananosheen@hotmail.com Abstract Women empowerment is one of the momentous issues of contemporary development policies in developing countries. Since empowerment is considered a multidimensional concept, it is determined by many socio-economic factors and cultural norms. In this paper, an attempt is made to explore the possible determinants of women empowerment using regression analysis based on primary data from a district of Southern Punjab. Considering its multidimensional nature and aspects, a cumulative index for women empowerment is constructed using four indices i.e. personal autonomy, family decision making, domestic economic decisions and political autonomy. An empirical analysis shows some new and diverse results for three different areas namely urban, rural and tribal areas. The results show that women empowerment is considerably influenced by education, access to media, socio-cultural norms of the community, job of women and household participation rate. In this study, apart from the conventional variables, a variable about the knowledge of an Islamic Concept of Women Empowerment is also considered which shows significant positive impact on Women Empowerment index. Finally, it is concluded that women empowerment can be improved by concentrating on the significant factors in remote regions and consequently poverty levels will also be reduced across the areas. Keywords: Empowerment; Socio-economic Autonomy; OLS regression; Rural, Urban and Tribal Areas; Pakistan JEL Classifications Codes: J16; A14; C21; O18; N35
1. Introduction
The term
The Determinants of Women Empowerment in Southern Punjab (Pakistan): An Empirical Analysis
Imran Sharif Chaudhry Associate Professor, Department of Economics, Bahauddin Zakariya University Multan, Pakistan E-mail: imranchaudhry@bzu.edu.pk Farhana Nosheen PhD Scholar, Department of Economics, Bahauddin Zakariya University Multan, Pakistan E-mail: farhananosheen@hotmail.com Abstract Women empowerment is one of the momentous issues of contemporary development policies in developing countries. Since empowerment is considered a multidimensional concept, it is determined by many socio-economic factors and cultural norms. In this paper, an attempt is made to explore the possible determinants of women empowerment using regression analysis based on primary data from a district of Southern Punjab. Considering its multidimensional nature and aspects, a cumulative index for women empowerment is constructed using four indices i.e. personal autonomy, family decision making, domestic economic decisions and political autonomy. An empirical analysis shows some new and diverse results for three different areas namely urban, rural and tribal areas. The results show that women empowerment is considerably influenced by education, access to media, socio-cultural norms of the community, job of women and household participation rate. In this study, apart from the conventional variables, a variable about the knowledge of an Islamic Concept of Women Empowerment is also considered which shows significant positive impact on Women Empowerment index. Finally, it is concluded that women empowerment can be improved by concentrating on the significant factors in remote regions and consequently poverty levels will also be reduced across the areas. Keywords: Empowerment; Socio-economic Autonomy; OLS regression; Rural, Urban and Tribal Areas; Pakistan JEL Classifications Codes: J16; A14; C21; O18; N35
1. Introduction
The term