67.5% districts empowered women in decision-making, mobility: IIM-A study

The decision-making power and asset ownership of women have seen a significant rise in India, according to a new study. A district-level analysis by the Gender Centre at the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (IIMA), covering 705 districts, indicates that 67.5% of districts empower women in decision-making and mobility and the percentage of women who own assets, either individually or jointly with their partners, has increased from 29.09% in the National Family Health Survey (NFHS)-4 (2015-16) to 35.00% in NFHS-5 (2019-21).

The study titled “Women’s Empowerment at the Subnational Level: Towards Achieving Gender Equality (Sustainable Development Goals 5) compared and analysed data for women aged between 15 and 49 from a total of 705 districts across the country from the NFHS-4 and NFHS-5. It was released on Friday by Professor Satish Deodhar, Dean (Faculty), and Professor Vidya Vemireddy, Chairperson Gender Centre and co-author of the report.

The Women Empowerment Index that the researchers developed is at the subnational district level, offering more detailed and specific insights compared to state-level analysis, as per the report. By focusing on districts, it becomes more possible to capture local nuances in demographics, economic activities, infrastructure, and social indicators that might be masked at the state level as a result of aggregation, the researchers have said.

The report is prepared with a comprehensive database sourced from several reliable platforms and Women Empowerment Index developed by the Centre, which serves as a localised tool that is designed to measure empowerment at the district level in the following four key areas essential to achieving SDG 5 by the United Nations. They include decision-making, autonomy over income, and physical mobility; control over income and economic empowerment; educational and informational empowerment; and work-life balance. These domains capture the multifaceted nature of women’s empowerment, from their ability to make decisions and control financial resources to balancing paid and unpaid work.

The report showed that although women’s literacy rates have increased, only 46.1% districts reported educational empowerment, and women respondent in just 32.25% of districts felt that they were able to achieve work-life balance, highlighting ongoing challenges with unpaid domestic work.

“Of the four parameters studied in the report, the work-life balance parameter shows the least progress. Only about 32% of women reported that they could manage work-life balance. In my opinion, women’s workforce participation is intricately linked to responsible household work participation by men. As men have not taken their equal share of household responsibilities proactively, it is ultimately hindering the quality of labour-force participation of women. This report by the Gender Centre at IIMA serves not only as a measure of progress but also as a roadmap for future interventions to enhance women’s empowerment and participation in the workforce,” said Deodhar.

For higher education, the average number of women completing higher education increased from 11.43 per 100 women in NFHS 4 to 14.42 per 100 women in NFHS 5.

Also, interest in mass media has also surged from 69.12% in NFHS-4 to 76.24% in NFHS-5, with more women engaging with various forms of media, indicating greater exposure to mass media (listening to radio, watching television, and reading newspapers), as per the report.

“Our initiative at the Gender Centre at IIMA is to provide a replicable methodology which would help multiple stakeholders to generate localised district-level insights to identify and track progress and future areas of improvement in women’s empowerment and SDG 5 indicators. This effort is aimed to support existing policy and research ecosystem via ensuring a data-driven approach to monitor gender equality at local levels and towards achieving the SDG 5 (Gender Equality) goal,” according to Professor Vidya Vemireddy.