What Determines Women’s Status? Some Evidence from India, Pakistan and Thailand

Abstract

In this study, we examine the determinants of women‟s status (i.e. female autonomy, acceptability of beating, and preference for son) in India, Pakistan, and Thailand. Most existing studies quantify and analyze women‟s status based on data from surveys that collect information on only wives or women‟s perception about their own status. We suggest that such focus is misleading because: (1) a wife‟s evaluation of her status statistically differs from her husband‟s evaluation of her status; and (2) while wife‟s attitudes towards her status are necessary conditions for her actual status, a husband‟s attitudes towards his wife are also deterministic of her status, particularly, in patriarchal societies. This suggests that programs and policies targeting only wives will not be very effective in improving women‟s status, unless these policies target husbands and others. A variety of factors determine women‟s status in three countries, but there are also some common factors. While wife‟s age and her ability to support herself and her children are positively associated with her autonomy, the relationship between her autonomy and age is non-linear. While Muslim women are found to have less autonomy, compared to non-Muslim women, they do better in terms of son preference. On other hand, Muslim women have higher acceptability of beating in India, but lower in Pakistan. However, there is no uniform explanation as to why wife beating is acceptable across India and Pakistan. In India and Pakistan, women‟s years of education and work status are two common factors of son preference, hence promoting female education and labor force participation could be significant policy instruments for government and non government organizations in reducing son preference.