Source: UNDP Africa Human Development Report 2012a
Studies have shown that when there is an increase in women‘s incomes they invest more in the familial nutrition, health and education, creating a ripple effect that can ultimately benefit the entire society. Thus, it is seen that higher the level of female earnings and bargaining power greater is the investment in children‘s education, health and nutrition, which leads to economic growth in the long term.62 Often it seen that higher levels of gender-wise discrimination is linked with higher levels of undernutrition both acute and chronic. Nutrition justice will only be achieved when women are empowered through gender responsive policies and programmes. Empowered women become more productive, as studies have shown, and as the main source of food for their children, they give future generations a better start in life. Hunger, nutrition and climate justice are development challenges that cannot be effectively addressed without explicitly dealing with their interconnectedness. The National Nutrition Strategy is committed to ensuring that every child, adolescent girl and woman attains optimal nutritional status- especially those from the most vulnerable communities. The focus is on preventing and reducing undernutrition across the life cycle- as early as possible, especially in the first three years of life. This commitment also builds on the recognition that the first few years of life are
62 Department for International Development (DFID) (2010), Agenda 2010 – The Turning Point On Poverty:
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forever - the foundation for ensuring optimum physical growth, development, cognition and cumulative lifelong learning. The National Nutrition Strategy will therefore contribute to key national development goals for more inclusive growth, such as the reduction of maternal, infant and young child mortality, through its focus on the following monitorable targets:
To create awareness relating to malnutrition among pregnant women, lactating mothers, as well as encourage healthy lactating practices and importance of balanced nutrition;
To improve maternal and child nutrition in 200 high burdened districts and to prevent and reduce undernutrition (underweight prevalence) in children (0- 3 years) by 3 percentage points per annum from NFHS 4 levels by 2022.
To reduce the prevalence of anemia among young children, adolescent girls and women in the reproductive age group (15- 49 years) by one third of NFHS 4 levels by 2022.
The achievement of the above monitorable targets will contribute to improved learning outcomes in elementary education, improved adult productivity, women‘s empowerment and gender equality and the National Development Agenda. When women have more control over household resources, families are healthier, better educated, and have more access to more nutritious foods. While the determinants of good nutrition and health are complex, there are several areas where changes to policy, legislation and planning can play a critical role in empowering women to act as key agents of change for improved nutrition. These include:
• protecting girl children from early marriage and pregnancy
• safeguarding and increasing women‘s access to, and control over, incomes and other resources • exploring innovative approaches to reducing women‘s time constraints
• enhancing women‘s understanding of good nutrition
• increasing women‘s involvement in decision making at all levels
Women Empowerment as Key to Develop Human Capital: Globally, educating and empowerment of women have proved to be the catalyst for fast socio-economic growth. Denying social, educational and economic opportunities to women to realize their potential is just a waste of human capital and impediment to economic progress.The key to India‘s growth is providing equal access to health and education to women in India. Women empowerment is essentially the process of upliftment of political, economic, educational, gender, social and political status of women, the traditionally underprivileged ones, in the society. Women‘s economic empowerment defined it as ‗the process which increases women‘s real power over economic decisions that influence their lives and priorities in society. Empowerment can be described as the process through which an individual gains access to the ability to make more choices.63 Women‘s empowerment is often associated with increased access to education, income-earning opportunities, health care, legal rights, etc and some of the main correlates of empowerment include the following:
education (female literacy, enrollment of girls in secondary school)
labor market status (labor laws, gender wage differentials, female labor force participation,)
legal frameworks (property rights law, inheritance law, labor laws)
marriage and kinship (age difference between spouses, family structure, number of children)
63Kabeer, N. 1999. "Resources, Agency, Achievements: Reflections on the Measurement of Women's
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land ownership (proportion of women who own land, control over income generated from land)
social norms (women‘s physical mobility)
political representation (proportion of seats in parliament held by women)
Women‘s empowerment also relates to increases in participation in household decision-making processes and thus the allocation of resources within the household. Since women are often primary caregivers, women‘s empowerment is considered crucial for improving nutrition outcomes for their family. Women indirectly can influence their children‘s nutrition through their own nutritional status as well as directly through proper childcare practices. As result of social empowerment of women along with investments in women‘s human capital there are increased benefits of nutritional improvements and this has greater positive implications in human capital development at least in rural communities and developing nations.
Conclusion: Globally, women and young girls face many inequities and restrictions. Traditional rules and practices often have restraining consequences for women, which in turn limit their access to vital resources like land, education and credit, and thereby affecting household food security and nutrition. it is not just the women and girls who are affected directly by such traditional rules and constraints, but also other household members and communities are also affected inter- and intra-generationally. Women‘s inferior status thus has harmful effects on their health and limits their access to healthcare. Women‘s widespread ignorance about matters related to their health poses a serious impediment to their well-being. This research looks at the role of women empowerment in promoting nutrition and thereby the increasing the level of human capital development in the country. Proper nutritional policies can help to provide nutritional conditions for women and their families. Improvements in women‘s human capital have positive intergenerational implications for their children. Reduction in gender inequalities and women empowerment along with positive investments women‘s human capital can have greater positive implications for the long-term development of developing countries. References:
Bakshi, R. K. (2012). Challenges of women empowerment. New Delhi: Altar Pub. House.
Cheema, H. S., Khanna, S. K., & Jha, S. (2011). Women Empowerment in the 21st Century. Mumbai: Himalaya Pub. House.
Haan, A. (2017). The Win-Win Case for Women's Economic Empowerment and Growth. GrOW Working Paper Series GWP-2017-03 – Concept Paper. Institute of Study of International Development.
Paramasivan, C. (2012). Women empowerment: issues and challenges. New Delhi: Regal Publications.
PTI. (2017, November 25). Visible results in preventing under-nutrition must be seen by 2022: Modi. Retrieved 16 January 2018, from http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/visible-results-in-preventing-under- nutrition-must-be-seen-by-2022-modi/article20914523.ece
Rao, C. A., & Kumar, C. S. (2011).Women empowerment through self help groups and micro finance. Ambala City: Associated (AP).
http://niti.gov.in/content/nutrition-strategy-booklet
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IMPACT OF RELIGION & EDUCATION LEVEL ON FINANCIAL AUTONOMY OF WORKING WOMEN
Dr. Dilip M. Patil,Asso. Prof.,College: Jashbhai Maganbhai Patel College, Mumbai
Abstract
It is generally observed that, irrespective of the religion women follow, religious belief, social norms, family structure and traditions hold them back from getting an access to education, employment and participation in decision making process at par with men. Education helps women to gain independence from the social & family constraints of patriarchal traditions. Many of the researchers have proved the direct link of education level with the status of women in the family. Women‟s autonomy over Financial-decision making process and their autonomy are equally important components of women empowerment along with access to resources. The present study has tried to analyze the women‟s autonomy over „Financial Decision Making‟ w.r.t. their religion & education. The study included information from 348 randomly selected working women from westerns part of Mumbai suburb. The data collected the information on respondent‟s „Education level‟ „Family type (Joint/Nuclear)‟, „Religion’ they follow and „No of Financial decisions’ taken on stated indicators. Chi-square test of independence & ANOVA techniques were applied to analyze the data collected. The study finds that, mean number of decisions taken across the religions are significantly different. This indicates that, religion the working women follow has significant impact on their financial decision power. However, the study did not show such result when it is tested w.r.t. „Education level' & „Family type‟ they live. Hence, it can be concluded from the study that, if the religion influence is reduced, access to economic resources and education can play a supportive role in the overall development of women.
Keywords: „Religion‟, „Education level‟, „Financial decision-making‟, Women‟s autonomy, Self-decision
INTRODUCTION:The empowerment of women and improvement of their status are essential ingredients for realizing the full potential of economic, political and social development and ensuring sustainable development. Equal participation of men & women in resource allocation & decision making is essential for the smooth running of the family and society in large. Most of the researchers highlighted the significance of religion and education in the women‘s participation in the decision making at the family as well as the society level. It is in general observed that, irrespective of the religion women follow, religious belief, social norms, family structure and traditions hold back them from getting an access to education, employment and participation in decision making process at par with men. With the spread of girls‘ education and low fertility rates more and more women are taking higher education and joining the workforce. They are contributing to family income and to national GDP. At the same time they also deserve due representation in the decision making process. Working women demand for the control of their earnings and autonomy over spending this money. With the increase in Nuclear families women started getting involved in the financial decision making about investments and purchase of assets. The present study is an attempt to bring out the significance of education, family type and religion on women‘s participation in Financial Decision Making at household level. The study is conducted for the 348 working women in Mumbai suburb selected by simple random sampling method.