Status, Caste, and the Time Allocation of Women in Rural India
Status, Caste, and the Time Allocation of Women in Rural India
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DOI：
10.1086/668282
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发表时间：
2013-01-01
影响因子：
2
通讯作者：
Wadhwa, Wilima
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Eswaran, Mukesh;Ramaswami, Bharat;Wadhwa, Wilima
我们认为，在印度农村地区，妇女可能不愿意参与市场工作，因为在一种歧视已婚妇女从事市场工作的文化中，对家庭地位的关注。我们建立了一个理论框架，为基于种姓的地位对女性时间分配的影响提供了预测。然后，我们使用2004-5年全印度国家抽样调查数据和1998-99年印度六个邦的时间使用调查数据来实证检验这些假设。在控制了一系列相关因素后，我们发现，随着种姓等级的上升，女性在市场上的工作与男性的比例也在下降。这一比例随着家庭财富的增加而下降，而且高种姓的下降幅度更大。最后，高等教育对女性市场工作的影响在高种姓中较弱。这些发现为我们的理论和观点提供了支持，即种姓制度强调家庭地位，在削弱女性自主权方面起着关键作用。我们的文章暗示了文化如何影响发展中国家减少贫困的速度。
We argue that women may be disinclined to participate in market work in the rural areas of India because of family status concerns in a culture that stigmatizes market work by married women. We set out a theoretical framework that offers predictions regarding the effects of caste-based status concerns on the time allocation of women. We then use the all-India National Sample Survey data for the year 2004–5 and the Time Use Survey for six states of India for the year 1998–99 to empirically test these hypotheses. After controlling for a host of correlates, we find that the ratio of women’s market work to men’s declines as we move up the caste hierarchy. This ratio falls as family wealth rises, and the decline is steeper for the higher castes. Finally, the effect on women’s market work of higher education is weaker for the higher castes. These findings lend support to our theory and to the view that, through its emphasis on family status, caste plays a pivotal role in undermining the autonomy of women. Our article has implications for how culture impinges on the rate at which poverty in developing countries can be reduced.