Household decision-making power based on income and marital status: a study of Chukha district of Bhutan

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to explore the decision-making situation of women in Bhutanese society. This paper assesses the level of income and marital status of Bhutanese women and how these factors influence decision-making in terms of children responsibility, household activities, household purchasing, participation in social activities and fulfilling the social obligation. This research is exploratory in nature. One district was chosen for the study. Purposive random sampling was used to collect data by a survey of a sample size of 552 women from Chukha district of Bhutan. Data was analysed by cross-tabulation and chi-square test by using SPSS 17. The findings revealed that regular income level of women and household decision are associated. The percentages of women who independently take decision are lower than the decision taken by them with their husband jointly. Data also exposed that women independently take decision is 19.4% but jointly with husband is 52.9%. Thus, we conclude that there is an association between the level of income, marital status and household decision-making.