A Study to Assess Women’s Autonomy in Household Decision Making Under Field Areas of Medical College Health Unit, Pangappara

Abstract

Background: Women play a central role as the primary caregivers for both children and the elderly, globally. Indian culture attaches great importance to women, who comprise the half of world’s population. In sustainable development, goal 5 advocates gender equality and women empowerment. When women empowerment is hindered, they lack the ability to make choices regarding their own health care, education and career, they are restricted from moving freely without family permission, leading to a state of neglect and dependency. Aim: The aim of this study was to assess Women’s autonomy in household decision making under field areas of Medical College Health Unit, Pangappara, Thiruvananthapuram and the secondary objective was to find out the factors associated with women’s autonomy in household decision making. Methodology: The design adopted for the study was cross sectional survey. The study was conducted in a community setting. The data was collected from 330 women who met the eligibility criteria and they were selected by cluster sampling method. Data collected includes socio demographic data of women and women’s autonomy was assessed using Women’s autonomy Measurement scale. Results: The result showed that 31.8% of women had poor autonomy, 6.1% of women had average autonomy and 62.1% of women had good autonomy in household decision making. The factors associated with women’s autonomy were age, marital status, independence in handling financial matters, living pattern and involvement in monthly household expenditure preparation. This study concludes that women’s autonomy in Kerala is better than other states of India. Keywords: Women’s autonomy, Household decision making, Married women