Women and decision making ; A Household level study of Mushar community, Janakpurdham Submetropolita city-1 Dhanusha

Abstract

This thesis entitled "Women and Decision Making: A Household Level Study ofMushar Community,Janakpurdham Sub metropolitancity-1,Dhanusha.Although females covermore than half of the country’s population,the patri archalideologyholdsa rigid and discriminated concept about the roles of women in decision making. The women are confined to the secondary role sand are no li beralin terms of the irmo bility and their access to decision making even within their house-holds. So, this topic was selected to analyze the role of wome nin household decision making in the Janakpurdham Sub metropolitancity-1, Dhanusha. The specific objective of the study was to examine the existing socio-economic status of women in the study area and torealize role of women in household decision making .Descriptive research design was used in this study. 87 respondents were selected, all female were chosen by the use of purposive sampling method. The extent of Mushar women’s participation in household decision-making is significantly influenced by a combination of factors including their literacy levels, early marriage, experiences off oodscarcity,malnutrition, and the my riaddomestic responsibility est he yshoulder.The study was basically based on field survey. Method of primary data collection was household survey, observation and key information interview. Simple statistical toolslike percentage were used for quantitative data analysis. It was found in the study that women are not involved in decision making in household and those who participate said that their participation is only moderate. Male have control over all the important matters within and outside the household. Women are only involved in such decisionswhichhavenoeconomicvaluesandassignedastheirrolewithinthehousehold.Onthebasis of the finding of the study, different recommendations have been suggested to government, political parties, NGOs/ INGOs/ CBOs and local people to in crease women’sparticipationinhouse hold decision making process.The educational status of respondents is not good. Property rights for women are limited, especially among the Mushar community. Due to a lack of higher education, Mushar women predominantly engagein agriculture,ye the ypossessless decision-making uthority compared to theirmale counterparts.While Mushar women exhibitsignifi cantdecision-making power incertain activities, men generally hold superior roles in most variables. Household decision-