Context: Women’s Labour Supply Falling In India - PowerPoint Presentation

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Context: Women’s Labour Supply Falling In India

Figure 2: Labour Supply of Women in India by Land Holding

NOTE: The land holding groups are based on the hectares owned by a household. The red lines are for several decades ago, and grey lines for the recent period. Table 2 Comparison of Literature with FindingsCase 1: Data and Findings About One Case Study Couple in Rural Uttar PradeshP. Devi is 32 years old with a migrant husband, hence lives alone. She is a Hindu; she owns a tiny parcel of land. Her education level is the lowest one. She says she has been left behind by her husband.(deserted).P. Devi is very worried about her economic situation. She worries that there are no savings and no way to prepare a dowry. She thinks she will fail to get her daughter married off. This eldest daughter is only 12 years old. P. Devi wants to marry her off soon. Her husband left her when she had had 3 kids already. The neighbours now seem to ‘say bad’ [criticize] about her working [outside the home]. “Had he been here then I wouldn’t have to do work [outside the home].” “I feel more bad.. he left me”. She says anyone who wants to, rebukes her.

IntroductionThe study focuses on 2 parts of Bangladesh, shown in grey circles, and 3 states of India. Figure 1 Map of Village Locations in BangladeshThis study began with the standard hypothesis that a wealth mechanism could enable women to stay at home doing domestic work as a luxury good. As wealth rose, it could cause an unexplained rise in stayathome women, with male breadwinners , or by becoming Added-Females. We could consider this both a cultural and economic impact of growth. Nuclearisation has however reduced the number of Added-Females. Little wealth has trickled down.Table 1 Comparison of the Time-use in 2 Key Categories (Minutes Per Day)NOTE: The sampling in India was in 3 districts of eastern Bihar and western UP, each with 3 villages. These are the lowest GDP per capita areas of both these states.We chose 2 districts of Jharkhand, each with 3 villages. These do not have a lot of tribal people, unlike the rest of Jharkhand, which is troubled and has strong police presence, barring fieldwork. We chose in India 36 households per village, 1 couple per household, 2 visits (round 1, and round 2), 2015 and 2016.Aims1) To understand the couples’ negotiation of married women’s work and men’s work time in villages; 2) To explore the reasons why women’s labour force participation has gone down in India but up in Bangladesh over four decades; and 3)To identify causal factors for women’s time use on economically valued activities such as crops and livestock.MethodsMixed research design combining a two-round Random Sample Survey in 21 villages with 45 Interviews in each of the 2 countries. The interviewees are women and men from the sampled survey households. We also use secondary data on the labour force.

Figure 3 Using NVIVO to Study Discourses and DevianceThe best way to interpret the findings is to notice four pattern types:Those who act out stereotypical roles (following doxa or a standard habitus) but speak differently;Those who deviate and innovate (because doxa are mezzo-rules);Those who speak about norms as given but then question them (this is a modern approach); and Those who both act out and affirm traditional roles as far as possible.Figure 4: Typical Discourse Components in Rural India

Labour and Marital Negotiations (and Tensions): Comparing Rural India & Bangladesh 2016 Interpretations by Wendy Olsen, Data Collection by Amaresh Dubey, Anup K Mishra, Santosh K Singh, Simeen Mahmud, Sohela Nazneen, and Maheen Sultan and others We wish to acknowledge the leadership role played by M. Saiful and the helpful inputs of numerous PhD students.

Case 2: Data and Findings About One Case Study Couple in Northern BangladeshNote – The analysis of individual couples as ‘cases’ is a starting point. We gradually move toward analysing discourses and intertextuality.Afjar and his wife P live on a char (island). The flood waters can make them move house suddenly. Afjar speaks: ‘My wife is a housewife, she does household chores’…later it emerges she does a huge amount of work. Q: You said your wife helps you with your work when your son is not around?A: Yes, for example, when water collects at the base of corn stalks, I ask her to come with me. She helps me with my work for a few hours.Q: She helps you with your work outside the house, do you help her with her chores inside the house?A: Yes, I fetch firewood, or if she is cooking and she needs water, I fetch it for her. She asks for help and I always help her.

ReferencesChowdhury, F.D. (2009). “Theorising Patriarchy: The Bangladesh context”. Asian Journal of Social Science, 37(4), 599–622..Kabeer, N. (2011). "Between Affiliation and Autonomy: Navigating Pathways of Women's Empowerment and Gender Justice in Rural Bangladesh." Development and Change 42(2): pp. 499-528.Morgan, J., and W.K. Olsen (2011), “Conceptual issues in institutional economics: Clarifying the fluidity of rules”, Journal of Institutional Economics, doi:10.1017/S1744137410000299, 7:3, 425 - 454 . Nazneen, S, and Maheen, S. (2009) "Struggling for Survival and Autonomy: Impact of NGO-ization on women's organizations in Bangladesh." Development 52:2 pp. 193-199.Olsen, W.K., and J. Morgan (2010) “Institutional Change From Within the Informal Sector in Indian Rural Labour Relations”, International Review of Sociology, 20:3, 535-553, on “The Regulation of Indian Informal Capitalism”, DOI:10.1080/03906701.2010.51190. Rodgers, (2009) Labour Force Participation In Rural Bihar: A Thirty-Year Perspective Based On Village Surveys, Institute for Human Development, New Delhi, India;. Working Paper WP 04/2012, IHD, Delhi. (also book on Social Exclusion, 2012)Morgan, J., and W.K. Olsen, (2011) Aspiration Problems for the Indian Rural Poor: Research on Self-Help Groups and Micro-Finance, Capital and Class, June, 35:2, 189-212, doi:10.1177/0309816811402646 50%. Olsen, W.K. and J. Morgan (2010), Aspiration Problems in Indian Micro-Finance: A Case Study Exploration, Journal of Developing Societies, 26:4, 415-455. DOI: DOI: 10.1177/0169796X1002600402. 50%

Theoretical SchoolLivelihoodsSocial InclusionEconomic Analysis of Self-Employment (& Self-Employment Promotion)Critical Realism Combined with Mezzo-Rules and HabitusWomen’s roleHiddenProblematised for being Non-ProductiveProblematised, and their Agency is Valued Negotiated, with Agency and StrategiesRole of Gov’tReduce Market Failures (Ignores Social & Cultural Structures)Socially include people? Doomed to fail? Micro-lending, Training, Wish for Growth- Not studied yet - Discourses RelatedWork, business, borrow, debtGender, class, caste, religion (Structural Difference and Relations)Constraints, FatalismIntertextuality shows the contradictions, and reveals agency

INTERPRETATIONS – Case 1

She struggles because in her community it’s impossible for a poor woman without a husband to accumulate any assets. This is structural. The rates paid for her work are too low. She cannot migrate either.

The enablement of others to criticize her rests upon the social status ladder. In this ladder the deserted wife is of low ranking.

INTERPRETATIONS – Case 2

‘Helping’ illustrates the man assuming the woman is docile. He instructs her, assuming his control role. He also helps her, deviating from the patriarchal norm. There ‘helping’ acknowledges her dominance in the home.