Family Structure and Decision-Making Power among Working and Non-Working Women

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 nonworking and working women was higher in comparison to the joint family. In both nuclear and joint family, nonworking 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.