How poor are women in rural India?

Abstract

The process of proletarianisation and pauperisation, caste structure etc, play important roles in determining female participation in work. This paper, through review of relevant literature shows how poverty focused strategies mostly provide channels through which new ties of dependence and exploitation are established. It discusses further, that as the economic status of poor women's households decreases, they combine domestic work with wage work. It analyses those regional factors which act as powerful determinants of rural household strategies for the deployment of female labour other than caste and household economic status. It also examines whether the increase in rural women's labour force participation is a sign of deepening poverty which has forced them into the labour market for survival or an indication of new economic opportunities which are forcing households to move against the cultural milieu and send them out to work. Finally, the paper focuses on gender based inequalities in access to employment opportunities and explores the intra-household gender discriminatory practices in the distribution of food, health care and education within poor households. -from Author