The Influence of Economic Development on Patterns of Conjugal Power and Extended Family Residence in India

Abstract

While examining the factors which make either the husband or the wife more powerful within households the author shows the relationship between socioeconomic development and household composition. The author uses both census data from Karnataka and data from a survey conducted in Minneapolis and in Bombay. In both cultures the spouse who controls the most resources is the most powerful in decision making. The social forces which make women more powerful in decision making within the household in India are closely associated with urbanization and increasing education and employment for women. Surprisingly a trend toward increasing pressure in India for nuclear households has not developed. This could be due to 1) a decline in the female labor force participation rate 2) steeply graded income profiles associated with jobs in the modern economy and 3) the fact that local customs have always allowed migration for employment without it being considered a challenge to tradition. Educated women are successful in determining what occurs within both nuclear and extended households. In the future both husband and wife may decide together how best to live in a joint household. (authors modified)