Gendered responsibilities of household members in securing livelihoods through mat making in the Barak Valley, Assam

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ABSTRACT Artisans face various obstacles owing to the lack of handicraft-related livelihood capital. This study highlights the significance of traditional skills and collaborative efforts of household members in ensuring a sustainable livelihood through mat making in the Barak Valley, Assam, India, despite facing multiple challenges. It employs a sequential exploratory mixed-method design and the Department for International Development’s sustainable livelihoods approach to examine the gendered responsibilities of household members earning a livelihood through mat making. The quantitative and qualitative findings reveal that the responsibilities of the women, men, and children in households are significant for earning their livelihoods from mat making. It recommends an immediate policy focus on bolstering the types of livelihood capital to sustain the livelihoods of mat makers and avoid decreasing their quality of life owing to the excessive utilisation of human capital.