Women’s Autonomy and Social Life in the Absence of their Males: A Comparative Study of two Socio-Culturally distinct Migrant-Sending Pockets of India

Archana K. Roy, International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS)
Dipti Govil, International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS)
Kailash Das, IIPS
Lincy K, IIPS
Rajan Ram, International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS)

Male migration without family behind is a common household livelihood strategy in many developing countries. It manifests a multidimensional impact on the lives of the families left behind, particularly the spouses. Change in headship, decision-making power, and increased mobility are a few of them. In India, Eastern Uttar Pradesh and Bihar (Middle Ganga Plain region) and Kerala are two pockets with high male out-migration/emigration but bear contrasting characteristics. This study explores whether there is any improvement in autonomy for left-behind women compared to the women living with their husbands and, if so, how these differences impact the social life of left-behind women using data from KMS and MGP migration surveys with sample of 1492 and 2255 currently married women aged 18-49 respectively. Bivariate analysis, decomposition, and ordered logistic regression were employed for analysis. The odds of having greater autonomy for women in Kerala and Bihar are 3 and 1.9 times higher than that of Eastern UP. Autonomy differs with types and duration of migration, women’s age and economic participation and remittances. However, this increase in autonomy often comes with greater responsibilities and workloads, and conflict with in-laws and villagers.

Keywords: Internal Migration and Urbanization, Human Capital, Education, and Work, International Migration

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