Employment and Intrahousehold Empowerment: Women Workers in Leather Goods Export Sector in Kolkata

Authors

  • Ujjaini Mukhopadhyay The Institute of Cost Accountants of India

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.33516/rb.v45i1-2.37-54p

Keywords:

Women Employment, Female Labour Force Participation, Intra-Household Empowerment of Women, Patriarchal Norm.

Abstract

The paper is purported to examine the employment status and intra-household power of women workers in the leather goods export sector in Kolkata. The objectives are fourfold: to study the income and work profile of women in the industry; to examine whether the women's employment status translate into their empowerment within the household, to find out whether there is any relationship between the women's empowerment and labour force participation decisions, and to determine whether patriarchal attitude of husbands have any role in the empowerment of women. The analysis shows that the women are mainly concentrated in low skill activities and get lower earnings than their male counterparts, primarily due to vertical work segregation. The women workers have fairly low overall intra-household empowerment, particularly in economic and interpersonal matters. Their earning status has no significant impact in their empowerment. The women’s work participation decisions are dictated more by patriarchal attitude of the husbands and gender norms than their empowerment levels.

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Published

2019-07-31

How to Cite

Mukhopadhyay, U. (2019). Employment and Intrahousehold Empowerment: Women Workers in Leather Goods Export Sector in Kolkata. Research Bulletin, 45(1-2), 37–54. https://doi.org/10.33516/rb.v45i1-2.37-54p

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