Transforming Household Economies: Empowering Rural Women

and Shaping the Dynamics of Traditional Economic Activities

Nishi Sangwan

, Shweta Nanda

, Parveen Kumar Chauhan

and Pushpa Rani

Amity University, Noida, Uttar Pradesh, 201301, India

Jagan Nath University, Bahadurgarh, Haryana, 124507, India

Tecnia Institute of Advanced Studies, Rohini Delhi, 110085, India

Keywords: Economic Independence, Empower Rural Women, Household Economies, Economic Activities, Snowball

Sampling.

Abstract: Empowering rural women in traditional economic roles is vital for sustainable development. They play a

crucial role in farming and handicrafts but face challenges in resources, education, and decision-making.

Empowerment includes training, credit access, and modern technologies. In India, rural women contribute

significantly to the financial system through their vital roles. The research aimed to analyze factors influencing

women's productivity in traditional economic activities, impacting their contributions to home economics

through earnings and savings. Primary data was collected, and participants divided into two groups: Northwest

region (55% population increase) with five villages (Jatkhore, Begumpur, Kanjhawla, Jaunti, Ladpur) and

Northeast region (45%) with four villages (Bihari Pur, Pur Shahdara, Jeevanpur, Mandoli). Northwest villages

Notably, from Group A and Northeast from Group B in Delhi were included in the study. We utilized a

snowball sampling approach for this identification process. The data was gathered through implementation of

direct conversations and focus groups (FGDs). According to study, men prefer to make the most important

decisions at home due to firmly established hierarchical principles. Northeast and Northwest areas have

benefited greatly from government and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) funding development

programs. All female participants understood the advantageous outcomes associated with achieving economic

autonomy.

1 INTRODUCTION

In today's rapidly changing world, it is more

important to encourage rural women's economic

independence. Many individuals live in rural areas,

but they have less availability of resources, fewer

opportunities for learning, and fewer work

opportunities (Lambrecht and Tucker, 2019).

Particular problems frequently contribute to

economic disparities and prevent development in

certain areas. However, empowering rural women is

one effective approach (Akhter and Cheng, 2020).

Women in rural areas perform crucial roles in their

communities, resulting in activities like agriculture,

livestock keeping, and managing small enterprises. It

entails providing educational and training

opportunities, allowing women to acquire essential

skills in multiple fields, including agriculture and

entrepreneurship (Li and Bates, 2019).

These acquired skills enable them to assume more

significant roles in income-generating activities.

Equitable access to resources represents another

critical facet. Rural women frequently lack access to

land, credit, and technology, which are fundamental

for economic pursuits (Rouamba, et al, 2021).

Empowering them necessitates ensuring that they

have equal access to these resources. Additionally, it

is imperative to promote gender equality and facilitate

women's engagement in decision-making processes

at the community and household levels (Acosta, et al,

2020).

Encouraging communities to acknowledge the

significance of women's contributions and

challenging stereotypes can significantly contribute

to fostering a supportive environment for their

economic pursuits (Amusan, et al, 2021). This

endeavor encompasses providing education and

training, ensuring equal access to resources, and

advocating for gender equality and participation in

506

Sangwan, N., Nanda, S., Chauhan, P. and Rani, P.

Transforming Household Economies: Empowering Rural Women and Shaping the Dynamics of Traditional Economic Activities.

DOI: 10.5220/0012492400003792

Paper published under CC license (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)

In Proceedings of the 1st Pamir Transboundary Conference for Sustainable Societies (PAMIR 2023), pages 506-511

ISBN: 978-989-758-687-3

decision-making (Reshi and Sudha, 2023). When

rural women prosper economically, the entire

community reaps the rewards.

This research aims to illustrate the empowerment

of rural women within the many dynamics of

traditional economic activity. The remainder of the

paper's portions have been organized as follows. In

Part 2, we investigated the related works similar to

rural women empowerment. Part 3 explains the

methodology, whereas Part 4 displays the analysis

outcomes. Part 5 discusses the conclusions.

2 RELATED WORKS

(Yu and Cui, 2019) utilized a feminist political

economics approach to examine the intersection of

gender, entrepreneurship, and web-based commerce

in small-town China. Women's financial

independence did not automatically provide them

with the same level of autonomy in other circles, such

as culture and politics. (Banihani, et al, 2020)

examined women entrepreneurs' obstacles in Jordan

to identify strategies to enhance their empowerment.

The study employed a qualitative research approach,

specifically in-depth interviews, as the primary data

collection method. The themes and categories were

determined by utilizing NVIVO software to analyze

the interview findings.

(Anderson, et al, 2021) considered ways to

increase female empowerment in agriculture by

investing in or reallocating resources to them.

“Reducing the gender gap in input access and taking

advantage of gender differences in risk, time, and

social preferences” were the two hypotheses put up as

approaches for enhancing productivity. (Kapoor, et

al, 2019) employed interviews and focus groups to

examine the potential impact of self-help

organizations on economic growth and sustainable

livelihood initiatives for low-income residents. It

looked at the potential of (Self Help Groups) SHGs, a

form of social innovation, to assist in eliminating

poverty among women and girls by encouraging them

to start their businesses.

(Andriamahery and Qamruzzaman, 2022)

employed a combination of “structural equation

modeling and a multivariate regression approach” to

examine how each dependent variable influenced the

dependent one. The results showed a favorable

statistically significant correlation between women's

company sustainability and female economic

independence. (Ferrant and Thim, 2019) examined

time management data and unpaid caregiver activities

in “Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Peru, and South Africa”

while also establishing similarities with governments

belonging to the Organisation for Economic Co-

operation and Development (OECD). Their

recommendations were based on insights derived

from the “Social Institutions and Gender Index and

in-country research conducted by the OECD Policy

Conversation on Women's Financial Empowerment.”

(Qahtani, et al, 2020) explored opportunities in

the “theoretical and practical realm of female

empowerment in Saudi Arabia” by examining the

impact of education and political participation on

women's financial, social, and management

participation. They discovered an advantageous

connection between political and

economic/managerial empowerment. (Ghasemi, et al,

2021) explored empowerment and eco-feminist

recommendations to investigate how empowering

rural women influenced the connection between

social variables and environmental protection.

3 RESEARCH METHODS

In this study, we separated data into two groups: the

Northern area, comprising five districts and 55% of

the population growth, and the southwestern central,

comprising four districts and45%. During, the second

phase, a specific district and two rural areas from each

district were chosen. This selection process included

Northwest from Group A and Northeast from Group

B. Women were actively engaged in many economic

initiatives. This identification process was carried out

using the snowball sampling approach.

3.1 Characteristics of the Participants

The data mentioned for this analysis was primary data

and it consist of 390 women (or about 78 %) out of

the entire group of 500 approached were willing to

participate in interviews and focus groups to share

their thoughts and opinions. Table 1 and Figure 1

provide each participant's characteristics.

Transforming Household Economies: Empowering Rural Women and Shaping the Dynamics of Traditional Economic Activities

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Table 1: Characteristics of each individual.

Areas Sample Area No. of Respondents (%)

Northwest (Group A) Jatkhore 175 (30.2)

Northeast (Group B) Bihari Pur

215 (37.1)

Initial individuals 390 (78)

Investigated count ( Overall) 500

Figure 1: Characteristics of each individual.

One possible reason that has been proposed for the

higher incidence of lack of education is that these

women were part of a demographic in which the need

of educating females was not usually recognized. All

participants acquired the ability to engage in the study

of the Bible as an integral component of their

religious instruction, as mentioned in Table 2.

Table 2: Participants' characteristics

Contents No of individuals (%)

Group A Group B Total

Educational State

Educated 109 (62.28) 102 (47.44) 211 (54.10)

Uneducated 66 (37.72) 113 (52.56) 179 (45.89)

Education

Middle 45 (25.71) 60 (27.90) 105 (26.92)

High 68 (38.85) 48 (22.32) 116 (29.74)

Matric. 15 (08.57) 51 (23.72) 66 (16.92)

Secondary 47 (26.85) 56 (26.04) 103 (26.41)

4 RESULTS

4.1 Financial State of Household

The study revealed that a significant proportion of

households belonged to the poverty category,

characterized by small earnings. The primary factor

contributing to the difficult economic condition

discussed is the high number of joint family systems

among the respondents, accounting for 54.08% of the

sample mentioned in Table 3.

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Table 3: Financial State of Household

Contents No of individuals (%)

Group A Group B Total

Primary Employment of Household

Farming 53 (30.28) 37 (17.20) 90 (23.07)

Gardening 34 (19.42) 59 (27.44) 93 (23.84)

Animal farming 15 (08.57) 68 (31.62) 83 (21.28)

Others 68 (38.85) 12 (05.58) 80 (20.51)

Mixed 5 (02.85) 39 (18.13) 44 (11.28)

Overall Income (Rs)

Less than 8,000 59 (33.71) 68 (31.62) 127 (32.56)

10,000–15,000 37 (21.14) 45 (20.93) 82 (21.02)

15,000–20,000 59 (33.71) 58 (26.97) 117 (30)

More than 20,000 20 (11.42) 44 (20.46) 64 (16.41)

Overall Spending (Rs)

Less than 8,000 60 (34.28) 65 (30.23) 125 (32.05)

10,000–15,000 40 (22.85) 48 (22.32) 88 (22.56)

15,000–20,000 51 (29.14) 55 (25.58) 106 (27.17)

More than 20,000 24 (13.71) 47 (21.86) 71 (18.20)

4.2 Engagement in Traditional

Economic Activities

Initially observed, the participants in our study

engaged in various assigned tasks and important

economic activities based on their skills they obtained

training, and the accessibility of time and financial

resources. Low household income and a large number

of dependents all contributed to the common scenario

of women engaging in several economic activities to

support their families. About 11.53% wished the kids

had a greater opportunity to get a solid education.

Tables 4 and 5 show 18.71 % accomplished to raise

their families' access to healthcare or living standards,

and 16.38% utilized their enterprises as their only

source of earnings.

Table 4: Various types of traditional economic activities

Contents Group A Group B Total (%)

Farming and Gardening 42 53 95 (24.41)

Farming animals and chicken 19 40 59 (15.12)

Preserving and preparing meals 37 37 74 (15.12)

Art products 26 49 75 (19.05)

Others 51 36 87 (22.30)

Transforming Household Economies: Empowering Rural Women and Shaping the Dynamics of Traditional Economic Activities

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Table 5: Financial state

Contents

No of individuals (%)

Group A Group B Total

Desire for Beginning Economic Activities

The primary source of

finance

37 (21.09) 27 (12.54) 64 (16.38)

Provide quality

education to kids

16 (09.23) 29 (13.40) 45 (11.53)

Quality of life and

ood health

25 (14.28) 48 (22.22) 73 (18.71)

Individual earnings (Rs)

Less than 8,000 60 (34.28) 65 (30.23) 125 (32.05)

10,000–15,000 40 (22.85) 48 (22.32) 88 (22.56)

15,000–20,000 51 (29.14) 55 (25.58) 106 (27.17)

More than 20,000 24 (13.71) 47 (21.86) 71 (18.20)

The participants participated extensively in various

skill-based initiatives to provide for their families. In

addition to selling fresh goods in the market, women

provided seedlings, desserts, eggs, and chicks to

support their families. Most participants (22.56%)

reported a monthly household income of 10,000 and

15,000 Rupees. 61.79% of women, however, said

they save less than 8,000 each month. Total family

income, dependence ratios, and poverty rates affected

individual sources of income, savings, and

expenditures. 23.84% of women reported a certain

amount of satisfaction with men's views on women

working, possibly if such jobs were carried out in the

context of their own homes and contributed directly

to satisfying fundamental necessities.

4.3 Impact of Traditional Economic

Activities on Rural Women

Empowerment is crucial in several dimensions of

individuals' lives, spanning the domains of self-

worth, identity in themselves, and the capacity to

reject subordination. The concept entails recognizing

an individual's ability to utilize initiative and engage

in discussions with those holding superior

hierarchical positions. In general, the economic

activities were found to positively impact lives,

promoting self-reliance and improving their socio-

economic welfare, as indicated by 69.28% of the

participants mentioned in Table 6.

Table 6: Positive impacts of economic activity

Contents

No of individuals (%)

Group A Group B Total

Independent Financial 82 (46.93) 73 (34.05) 155 (80.98)

Relationship building 60 (34.28) 48 (22.22) 108 (56.50)

Dependents' Schooling 51 (29.33) 54 (25.00) 105 (54.33)

Quality of life 77 (44.28) 54 (25.00) 131 (69.28)

Encouragement from the

family's males

58 (33.14) 64 (29.62) 122 (62.76)

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The majority of participants in the study was from

traditional households and held generally negative

opinions on women's ability to relocate independently

and attain socio-economic autonomy.

Although beneficial impacts were observed, a

significant number of the participants also reported

negative results associated with economic activities.

These negative effects encompassed physical strain,

mental stress, and strained social connections. These

negative outcomes were generally attributed to

factors such as time constraints, financial demands,

and societal expectations. Nearly half of those

investigated mentioned both positive and negative

effects of economic activities, with the first group

citing negative effects on their physical health, the

other half including negative effects on their mental

health, and the subsequent providing negative effects

on social ties and harmony.

5 CONCLUSIONS

The growth of economic activities among rural

women is vital in order to facilitate the advancement

of sustainable development. By facilitating access to

educational opportunities, professional development,

and financial resources, we may enhance their abilities

and expertise in business. Many women in rural areas

are actively engaged in both productive and

reproductive roles within their families, contributing

to both their personal well-being and the family's

financial stability. To address this, a gender-sensitive

approach is essential to assess women's empowerment

in financial, political, and social spheres. This requires

commitment from all members of society, with active

participation from women themselves. To achieve

greater gender equality in asset ownership and future

prospects, social norms, legal structures, and

regulations need significant changes.

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