Income Control and Household Work-Sharing

Abstract

Reports on a case study of 16 married women working in the machine-made jewelry production sector of the Noida Export Processing Zone near Delhi, India, that was part of a larger study conducted in 1996-97. Data were obtained from interviews focused on the impact of waged work on income control & the sharing of domestic work. Three of the women reported that the men control income & never share in household chores; three indicated that their spouses control income but share in household chores; two said they control income but their husbands never help with chores; & eight reported joint control of income & sharing chores. It is concluded that women's wage employment leads to changes in traditional gender regimes & the ability of women to negotiate in order to strike a "better bargain." The study contradicts previous research indicating little sharing of household work by men upon entry of women into waged work & suggests that waged work opens new spaces of empowerment for women. 1 Table. J. Lindroth