CHANGING FAMILY STRUCTURE AND ITS IMPACT ON WOMEN

🔆Family Structure in India: 

 

🔅 India, and the rest of the  

subcontinent, is unique as it  

accommodates both nuclear and joint  

families. A joint family, in which  

several generations live together, is  

common in India.

 

☑️ Until recently, joint households were  

the norm; however, migration and  

urbanisation are rapidly changing  

family structures. 

 

☑️ According to the 2011 census, out of 24.88 crore households, 12.97 crore or 52.1% were nuclear households.

 

☑️ The dissolution of joint families has made nuclear families increasingly common, changing women’s  

relative position in a family and with respect to social security and care for the elderly.

🔆 Family structure and position of women 

 

🔅 Women in nuclear households enjoy greater decision-making power, greater freedom of movement  

outside the house premises and greater participation in jobs. 

 

☑️ Women’s autonomy is differentiated by economic status, caste and household location. E.g. women in  

richer joint households have more autonomy in intra-household decision-making but less freedom of  

movement outside the home. For women in poorer joint households, it is just the opposite: they have  

greater freedom of movement outside the home but less autonomy in intra-household decision-making. 

 

☑️ Geographic location of the household affects women’s autonomy: Women in joint households in  

northern India have less autonomy compared to their counterparts in southern India. Interestingly, in the  

south, the effects of family structure on women’s autonomy are weaker.

 

☑️ The division of labour on the basis of sex is a characteristic of traditional family life in India. A woman  

was supposed to do all sorts of domestic work such as cooking, cleaning utensils, washing clothes etc.  

besides she has to do motherly duties of looking after the children and the interests of all the members of  

the family. However, in recent times with the increasing education levels and the economic opportunities  

in wake of Globalisation the socio-economic mobility of Indian women has increased