Working Through Marriage: Effects of Marital Inequalities on Perceptions of Women’s Employment

Abstract

Women’s domestic responsibilities are often cited as the main barrier to their entry into the workforce. Drawing on a survey conducted across four cities in North India, we look within the household to evaluate the effects of marital inequalities on the perceptions held about women’s work. Respondents were asked questions about the personal value in working, women’s competence to excel in certain fields and the opportunity costs of working outside the house. We characterise marital inequality through differences in age and education between spouses and marriage type as well as through the distribution of power in household decision-making and the freedom of mobility outside the house enjoyed by women. Overall, we note that these markers tend to have the strongest effects on questions that explicitly note discord between work options and domestic responsibilities. The variation in these effects reveal the relative valence of certain powers within the house over others.