Women’s intra-household decision making power in Jharkhand state, India

Background: This study is carried out in order to see the factors associated with women’s intra-household decision making power in a newly formed state, Jharkhand where most of the women are not only suppressed and dominated by their male counterparts but also are the bottom of educational level. A comparison is done to see the exact position of the women in Jharkhand state with respect to India. The study also argues whether women decision making power is related with their educational level, employment, income and other socioeconomic variables. Aim: The three objectives of the paper is i) to see the extent of women autonomy in household decision making (ii) to find out the factors responsible for women household decision making, and (iii) to carry out a comparative study of Jharkhand state with respect to rest of the India. Materials and Methods: The data for this study is taken from the National Family Health Survey (NFHS-3) 2005-06. These data are considered only from the married women falling under the age groups of 15-49. The decisions whether taken alone or jointly with others related to (i) own health care (ii) large household purchase (iii) say on husband’s earning and (iv) visit to family or relatives, are considered for the analysis. Women individual characteristics and other socio-economic factors are also taken in this study. Results: It is found that the relationship between independent characteristics and their ability to influence decision within household depend on the nature of decision under consideration. The result shows a significant association of marital duration and family pattern irrespective of all decisions in Jharkhand state as well as in India, indicating the indirect effect of seniority in marital life. The significant relation of education or earning position with that of intra-household decision is only seen in India and not in Jharkhand, signifying the lack of awareness or low status of the women in the family.