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Introduction

Gender Equality and Feminism have become growing topics all around the globe during the past half a century, with women organizing and protesting against the stereotypes imposed upon them by the men. Several theories exist about how these stereotypes and inequalities came about, with some people arguing that it is caused by the chauvinistic nature innately present in all human beings, with others rejecting this as a “lazy” argument to make, and attributing it to more specific causes. In the times of hunter-gatherers, the women occupied an equal status to that of men, and everyone had to contribute in order to survive and bring up the young ones. As agriculture started to appear, along with importance to ownership of land, the patriarchal form of society started dominating the scene, as men were bestowed with the duty to acquire and defend property, and hence the passing down of property down the line of male descendants (patrilineal) became relevant, thus side-lining the women in the society. With the growth of capitalism, the importance of the nuclear family had increased, which required the male to be employed, typically in industries, in order to earn income, and the women would have to stay at home and look after the domestic needs such as cooking, and raising of children, etc. The reason for this was that the main means of production was the modern nuclear family, and so this setup was promoted as the norm in order to maximise market gains and increase efficiency[1]. This effect of capitalism along with the patriarchal nature of most societies is what many argue to be the major reason behind the stigmatization and stereotyping of women as weaker, and restricted to household work. Challenging these notions, feminist movements have been seen in several countries of the world, thereby ensuring that the women in their country had rights and were relatively equal to the men, preventing further social downtrodding of women. Several countries have allowed women to join the army even, with some sending them into combat as well[2], in order to promote gender equality and inspire women to believe in themselves and change the way society looks at women. However, the situation in India is quite different. Gender inequality is rampant here, and nearly in every sphere of life, women are marginalized and oppressed, viewed as mere tools or property possessed by men. India witnesses the second highest amount of gender inequality in all of Asia, second only to the Taliban-ruled Afghanistan[3]. However, some feminist movements have been seen even in India, however their task is much more difficult here due to a vast number of reasons which will be discussed in depth in this project with the help of some interviews of Indian feminist social activists.

Methodology

The first step I took towards this project was to search for social activists in India who had made contributions to the feminist movement, and identified some feminists out of whom I had picked the interviews of Dr. Vandana Shiva[4], Dr. Sarojini Sahoo[5], Ms. Flavia Agnes[6] and Mrs. Madhu Kishwar[7]. Of these, Dr. Vandana Shiva would be the most prominent activist, who has written several books for the cause of feminism and making the women of India aware of such discrimination, and also won the Fukuoka Prize in 2012[8]. Dr. Sarojini Sahoo is also a well-known activist who has written several books about gender and sexuality, and won the Laadli Media Award in 2011, and her interview offers us the most information regarding the topic, and therefore is the central interview for the purposes of this project. From all the interviews, a few major issues have been identified and then analysed with the help of other sources, and their impact on the society at large is shown. The activists are generally in agreement with each other, and usually only the main focus of their argument is what changes. I have also identified a handful of interviews of feminists from countries other than India in order to compare them with those of the Indian feminists, and this affirm what is it that makes the feminist movement in India more essential and complicated than in other countries.

Core Chapter

After going through the interview[9] of Christina Hoff Sommers, a feminist activist from the USA, we can tell that the main focus of the interview is on improving women representation in politics, and mostly to disillusion women from several other schools of feminism which she believes to be false and misleading to the women population at large. This shows that feminism has already successfully granted them basic social equity in the USA.

The interview[10] of Perla Vasquez, a feminist from Mexico, has also been identified and analysed. The major issues in this as well mostly comprise of economic and political difficulties faced by women in Mexico.

This is in contrast with the stage in India as we can deduce from the 4 interviews analysed for the sake of this project, where the focus is on basic discrimination of women in the social field, and to stop the many forms of injustice suffered by them daily, and in almost every sphere of life. The major points of difference I have identified from these interviews is the basis of patriarchal values and oppression of women being strongly embedded with religious tradition, particularly Hinduism, since the later Vedic period; and the second being the rampant cases of sexual violence against women all around the country. It is this basic factor which makes feminism so much more essential in India, especially the rural places, and the reinforcement of patriarchy in the Hindu tradition, and the fact that a large majority of India is still religious, makes it much more difficult to acquire the goals of social equality and basic dignity for women.

Effect of Culture and Traditions

In her interview, Sarojini Sahoo states “At one time in India – in the ancient Vedic period – there were equal rights between men and women and even feminist law makers like Gargi and Maitreyi. But the later Vedic period polarized the sexes. Males oppressed females and treated them as ‘other’ or similar to a lower caste.”[11]

This statement has been proven to be true, and women had indeed enjoyed a position of equal rights to those of males in the Vedic period, with women being venerated, and the prevalence of several Goddesses and female Deities in the Hindu tradition from that time, further reinforcing their position in society[12]. However, during the time following the Vedic period, the situation of women deteriorated much further down. With the arrival of the Dharma Shastras, the Patriarchal form of society was stressed and promoted, causing the oppression of women in the society. However, most people argue that it is during the time of the Mughals when women in India became truly secluded, although there is evidence of such being practiced as early as during the time of Asoka.[13] The Smritis were another reason which led to the side-lining of women in the later Vedic society, which reflected the legislators’ chauvinistic nature in enforcing traditions and practices which led to the further oppression and control of women in the society by males, and laws which lacked all notions of equity and justice. These causes led to a solidification of a society where women were treated worse than Shudras (untouchables)[14], suffering several inequalities from the men every day. This has continued for a long time, with practices such as the Dowry system and the system of Sati being followed widely all over India when the British had arrive, and had not declined until the British Empire issued legislations banning the practice of Sati[15], following which it slowly started declining. The dowry system was originally only prevalent in the middle class who actually owned property which they could give away for dowry, but later was adopted even by the poorer sections of society, often resulting in cases where one would give away a lifetime of savings as dowry. It was banned by the Government of India in 1961, by the Dowry Prohibition Act of 1961, but the practice of dowry is still very much prevalent almost everywhere in India, especially in the villages where the law has little effect. This gives rise to a social horror known as Dowry death, which will be discussed under the next topic. Another issue arising out of traditions is that women are assumed to be weaker, and are made to stay at home and taught how to perform household work such as cooking and cleaning, and are not allowed to take part in most social events. As a result, most parents do not allow their daughters to go to school, and make them stay at home and learn household skills. As a result, while 76% of men are literate in India, only 54% of women are literate[16]. This indicates how much of an effect such traditions and notions can have on a country as a whole.

Violence against women

One of the major issues discussed by almost every feminist in their interview is dowry death. This is a practice where the bride is killed when her family does not give a large enough dowry. It has in fact been on the increase, seen largely throughout North India[17]. This has caused women to be looked upon as a burden in their family of birth. Sarojini Sahoo has stated the same in her interview, describing how women are usually viewed in society: “An unmarried daughter — seen as a spinster even in her late twenties — brings shame upon her parents, and is a burden. But once married, she is considered the property of her in-laws.”[18] This burden leads to wanting a male child over a female one, along with the fact that the Dharma Shastras and other texts of Hindu religion which make a son more desirable than a daughter due to the fact they can inherit, carry on the name, and only a son can perform the last rites of his father/grandfather. This leads to the social practice of female infanticide, which has been on the increase in India. It is basically the act of killing young female children, as their parents want a male child. This has caused the sex ratio to drop in India over the years. India has a child sex ratio of 914:100, as of 2011.[19] Next is the actual physical violence against women, which is very widespread in India compared to all the other nations. India has of late become famous for rape, following the Delhi rape case. A statement from Madhu Kishwar regarding such violence aptly sums up a variety of such problems prevalent in India: “Another main issue is sexual violence of all kinds, from what goes by the name of “eve-teasing”, which is a very mild, insulting word used to describe what goes from pinching and rubbing to lewd comments to physical violence, hitting you… Then there is rape of all kinds…”[20]

Sexual violence is at its highest in India. Some theorize that this is the backlash of a strong patriarchal society[21] witnessing westernization of women. It is the biggest social issue in all of India, and is the major reason why India needs feminism. The final problem to be discussed is the fact that marital rape is to this day not criminalized in India. The Indian Penal Code has no sanction against this act. The only recourse for the wife is to ask for divorce and leave her husband, but apart from that, there is no punishment meted out to the husband/rapist. Domestic violence also has a separate law which many say is not stringent enough, thus making it prevalent in countless areas of the country. Flavia Agnes addresses the topic in her interview: “In a society where marriage is the norm, the ultimate power rests with the husband.” To sum up the issue of violence, a statement from Vandana Shiva fits perfectly: “This violent economic order can only function as a war against people and against the earth, and in that war, the rape against women is a very, very large instrument of war. We see that everywhere. And therefore, we have to have an end to the violence against women.”[22]

Conclusion

We have seen how the dawn of private ownership of land and property gave rise to the Patriarchal society, pushing women to a side role, and how this was further solidified by the rise of capitalism and its need for the nuclear family and the “ideal setup” for division of labour. We then discussed how it originated in India, and how the Vedic period originally had great equality for the women in their society, and how that status deteriorated over time due to the Dharma Shastras and the Smritis, giving rise to traditions like dowry and sati. We have seen how these practices came about, the efforts of the government to curb them, and the effectiveness of these laws. We also see how the traditions affected the rate of literacy among girls drastically, and then how dowry leads to murder in several cases, and how this burden then leads to female infanticide, and the culmination of all these oppressive traditions leading to the sexual violence against women due to them being viewed as weaker, or as property, and finally how the law even now is quite unfair with regard to women, denying them any just recourse marital rape, despite several protests for the sake of the same. To conclude, we have seen how gender inequality has its own unique points in India, and how it is all the more essential for India to learn feminism, and the higher difficulty of actually bringing about changes in this society.

Bibliography
JSTOR
The Hindu
The National Geographic
The Times of India
Foundation for Sustainable Development
The Guardian

Are being lower in status and weaker sex lead to violence and abuse towards women?

Nowadays, feminism and gender equality are still an issue that will draw attention among the society. Women status is a complex issue and a hard-to-define subject. Overall, the rights and status of women have improved considerably in the last century. According to Macmillan English Dictionary (2007), “status” carries the meaning of someone’s position in a profession or society especially when compared with others. I strongly agree that women in this era are still considered as human beings who are lower in status and being the weaker sex compared to men that lead them to being easily abused by men. In this essay, I will discuss how women are treated as property and how they suffered from various forms of physical violence and sexual abuse that prove they are lower in status compared to men.

To most of the men, female are often regarded as property.

Women’s status in each society and culture varies in different ways around the world. In examples female genital mutilation which is common in Nigeria, Togo, Egypt and Somalia is existed which is the female will undergo a surgical remove of clitoris (Boyle, 2002). It is the means of social control that shows the selfishness of men. The reason some of the female perform this kind of surgical is husband hope their wives be virgins before marriage and remain sexually faithful after marriage. In my opinion, the virginity of a female should not control by using surgical method that had restricted women’s rights. For me, genital mutilation is unnecessary to be performed although virginity of a female is admittedly crucial for them before marriage. This is because there are other ways and means in order to control a female’s desire to have sex. In the event of this, why men did not have to perform the same kinds of operation to control them have sex before marriage? This has been shown that women are lower in status and powerless to voice as the surgical is consider as a part of their culture. Women are regarded as properties have to bear with the pain during the surgical and the effects after the operation either in the aspects of mentally or physically. Female genital mutilation is reportedly not practised in Malaysia and does not have any law on it. (Inter-parliamentary Union, 2010)

In reality, men always consider as the stronger sex that somehow the issue of physical violence against women had occurred. Gender equality is highly significant for the world to function well. When one sex believes that its strength or position is far better than the other then the issue of inequality arises. Domestic violence is one of the examples that testified women are lower in status and powerless than man. Sometimes, men abuse women to show their men’s power and their higher status than women. This is because women usually dare not to issue after they receive abuse form men. In my standpoint, women need to face the situation head on and be independent. They must realize what happened to them are inappropriate. Abuse from men to women should put an end mark from now onwards therefore clarified that women are not lower in status and powerless to achieve their women’s rights. In Malaysia, Domestic Violence Act is one of the laws that protect women’s rights when they get abused by men. Nevertheless, the Domestic Violence Act criminalizes violence against women, but only if you are a married women.

Furthermore, the case of dowry death is deemed as physical violence has proved to be lower the status of women.

The practice of dowry is glaring in parts of India where the status of women is less important than dowry. Dowry normally means it is given during the marriage to the son-in-law parents either in the form of cash or gifts. There are also brides who are constantly harassed physically or mentally for failures to bring sufficient dowry. From my point of view, culture is the main issue that have an abstruse impact on women. It is the culture that encourages women to be the weaker sex. People have passed down attitudes and traditions since the first established society and the sexist sins of their ancestor whom stereotyped women as lower in status and weaker sex.

On the other hand, sexual violence is one of the issues that women are being exploited as the weaker sex.

One of the examples of sexual violence is date rape. Date rape is a crime in which the victims are forced in to having sexual intercourse with someone they are familiar with. According to Hoebel (2002), one of the biggest risks from a male to a female is date rape. A research has shown that, one in four women will be raped in their life time (Nancy, Sylvester, Priscilla & Ana, 2001). This is a very scary, yet true statistic. In my viewpoint, rape is looked as a crime of assault. It can causes physical and mental injuries to victims. No one should ever force someone else to have sex against their will. That is rape! From Hoebel saying, I can conclude that men frequently assumed women as the weaker sex thought of they could easily do whatever things they want towards women including sexual violence. Davis Thomas and Camille Paglia (2006) believe the world will always contain men who use their advantage of strength to harm women. For me, I seriously hope that women need to be strong as well as be educated what date rape is. Therefore, more women will come out and report the incident.

Moreover, there are some issues like prostitution which is also a kind of sexual abuse to women, have been around for thousands of years and will never go away.

Hence, it is for this reason that, as Barbara Walter (2003) said, “Prostitution is a world that is here to stay, like it or not it is time to make the best of it”. Men exploited women in the prostitution field assuming that sex for money is legal. There are some cases which women are forced by their husband to sell their body in order to earn money. This scenario has shown men just only care about the profit and rather to sacrifice their wives in sex traffics. In my perspective, a woman must have the right, under constitution, to not only sell her property, but to do it in privacy. Women commonly regard as the lower status group ought to fight for their rights but not just let themselves being exploited by men. Prostitution is illegal in Malaysia, however, laws banning prostitution remain largely unenforced.

To conclude, there are several issues that had shown that women lower in status and being the weaker sex easily exploited by men. Men feel they are superior than women always treat women as property that those females have to perform surgical to please the superior one. Men often use violence means to try to overpower women. Many women also feel that they are lower in status and regard as the weaker sex usually exploited in sexual field which considered as sexual violence. Education is one of the methods that can prevent violence and abuse in women. People must look ahead to educate the next generation and instill in them new ideas in order for intellectual reform to occur not just for women, but for all people.

Sex-selective infanticide has increased in present day patriarchal India. The bias infanticide is the practice of terminating a pregnancy based on the predicted sex of the fetus (Goodkind 53). The preference of male children has lead to over millions of female deaths and abortions; the cause of the rising of female infanticide in India is due to the influences of over population, the dowry system, economic statuses, caste systems, social norms, women’s role, cultural beliefs, religion, etc. Most of these practices are due to the value or devaluation of women in some parts of the world. The system, custom, and tradition of these patriarchal societies lead to the neglect of girl children, which is what is happening today in India.

Sex-selective abortion was unusual before the late 20th century, because of the difficulty of determining the sex of the fetus before birth. But due to new and improved technology introduced in India like the ultrasound, it has made the selection an easier task. The process began in the political text during the emergency in the 1970’s. The examination of the text in India, was up to debate whether “it was in order to demonstrate that the effect of conjuncture between the overt rhetoric of over population covert discourse of femicide is that female populations are targeted for extermination” (Bhatnager 3). (this is awk, idk how to fix/rephrase). During the years of the Emergency, Amniocentesis was introduced in 1974. It was “to ascertain birth defects in a sample population,” but “was quickly appropriated by medical entrepreneurs. An epidemic of sex-selective abortions followed.” (Karlekar) Female infanticides are oppressing female mother and women in general.”[T]hose women who undergo sex determination tests and abort on knowing that the fetus is female are actively taking a decision against equality and the right to life for girls. In many cases, of course, the women are not independent agents but merely victims of a dominant family ideology based on preference for male children” (Karlekar). 10,000 female fetuses are killed every year in India (Bhatnager 2), and every year its being more and more accepted by the community. Families are trying to find an easy way out where they don’t have to live with a life long debt.

As known, India is one of the most overpopulated countries, but unlike Africa, the Caribbean and other, there’s a higher percentage of males than females. Due to Hindu beliefs and the strict caste system, young girls were being murdered daily. When demographic statistics were first collected in the nineteenth century, it was discovered that in “some villages, no girl babies were found at all; in a total of thirty others, there were 343 boys to 54 girls. … [I]n Bombay, the number of girls alive in 1834 was 603.” (Rummel 65-66.) The significant decrease in the female population occurs after birth and before the age of 4. From 1978 to 1983aˆ¦ of 12 million girls born each year only 9 million lived to be 15. (Balakrishnan 276). 1991 the ration from women to men was 945 to 1000, 2001 was 927 to 1000. This decline was attributed to regressive manifestations of patriarchy in a modernizing society, and not simply to ancient traditions, like the religious obligations in Hinduism. Amniocentesis, increased female infanticide; and although sex-discriminatory abortion is illegal and expensive, it’s practiced. From the year “1978 to 1983, 78,000 were reported killed, or 13,000 female fetuses annually aborted following the use of amniocentesis as a sex determination test” (Bhatnager 3). A portrayal of a gendercide against women.

“In Jaipur, capital of the western state of Rajasthan, prenatal sex determination tests result in an estimated 3,500 abortions of female fetuses annually,” according to a medical-college study. (Dahlburg) Most strikingly, according to UNICEF, “A report from Bombay in 1984 on abortions after prenatal sex determination stated that 7,999 out of 8,000 of the aborted fetuses were females. Sex determination has become a lucrative business.” (Zeng Yi 297.)

Gender has become secondary interest to a nation focused on religious and caste controversies. A study of Tamil Nadu by the Community Service Guild of Madras found that “female infanticide is rampant” in the state, though only among Hindu (rather than Muslem or Christian) families. “Of the 1,250 families covered by the study, 740 had only one girl child and 249 agreed directly that they had done away with the unwanted girl child. More than 213 of the families had more than one male child whereas half the respondents had only one daughter” (Karlekar).

Religion and economic status intertwined as one. Due to what caste you’re in determines your economic status within society. In the Hindu religion once a young girl is set of to marry, she becomes “property” of her husband’s family, but before those arrangements occur, the wife’s family would have to hold a well planned wedding. One way of these families avoiding themselves from getting into a situation like this is not having and girl child at all. During this whole festivity “the family of a prospective bride must pay enormous sums of money to the family in which the woman will live after marriage. Though formally outlawed, the institution is still pervasive. “The combination of dowry and wedding expenses usually add up to more than a million rupees ([US] $35,000). In India the average civil servant earns about 100,000 rupees ($3,500) a year. Given these figures combined with the low status of women, it seems not so illogical that the poorer Indian families would want only male children.” (Porras) Murders of women whose families are deemed to have paid insufficient dowry have become increasingly common.

The modern holocaust of feminicide signifies not only the serial killing of female fetuses also girl-child murder by negligence through discriminatory practices such as uneven food allocations causing nutritional deficiencies, uneven access to medical care, family resources, and minimum survival needs (Bhatnager, 3). The bias against females in India is related to the fact that “sons are called upon to provide the income; they are the ones who do most of the work in the fields. In this way sons are looked to as a type of insurance. With this perspective, it becomes clearer that the high value given to males decreases the value given to females” (Porras). “[A]nother disturbing finding,” namely “that, despite the increased ability to command essential food and medical resources associated with development, female children [in India] do not improve their survival chances relative to male children with gains in development. Relatively high levels of agricultural development decrease the life chances of females while leaving males’ life chances unaffected; urbanization increases the life chances of males more than females. … Clearly, gender-based discrimination in the allocation of resources persists and even increases, even when availability of resources is not a constraint.” (Kishor 262.) In Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh [states], it is usual for girls and women to eat less than men and boys and to have their meal after the men and boys had finished eating. Greater mobility outside the home provides boys with the opportunity to eat sweets and fruit from saved-up pocket money or from money given to buy articles for food consumption. In case of illness, it is usually boys who have preference in health care (Karlekar).

It’s Ironic that although Indians have defied knowledge as the goddess Sarasrati, Indian women have been regulated to educational subservience throughout India’s history. Education is power, which is in male’s hands. In 1947 the ratio of literacy from women to men was 6% to 22.6%, in 1961 15.3 to 40.4, 1981 28.5% to 76, and in 2001 from 33.6% to 60.3%(ADD MORE, SOURCE?).

“In rural India, the centuries-old practice of female infanticide can still be considered a wise course of action.” (Dahlburg) According to census statistics, “from 972 females for every 1,000 males in 1901 … the gender imbalance has tilted to 929 females per 1,000 males. … In the nearly 300 poor hamlets of the Usilampatti area of Tamil Nadu [state], as many as 196 girls died under suspicious circumstances [in 1993] … Some were fed dry, unhulled rice that punctured their windpipes, or were made to swallow poisonous powdered fertilizer. Others were smothered with a wet towel, strangled or allowed to starve to death.” A case from Tamil Nadu:

“Lakshmi already had one daughter, so when she gave birth to a second girl, she killed her. For the three days of her second child’s short life, Lakshmi admits, she refused to nurse her. To silence the infant’s famished cries, the impoverished village woman squeezed the milky sap from an oleander shrub, mixed it with castor oil, and forced the poisonous potion down the newborn’s throat. The baby bled from the nose, then died soon afterward. Female neighbors buried her in a small hole near Lakshmi’s square thatched hut of sunbaked mud. They sympathized with Lakshmi, and in the same circumstances, some would probably have done what she did. For despite the risk of execution by hanging and about 16 months of a much-ballyhooed government scheme to assist families with daughters, in some hamlets of … Tamil Nadu, murdering girls is still sometimes believed to be a wiser course than raising them. ‘A daughter is always liabilities. How can I bring up a second?’ Lakshmi, 28, answered firmly when asked by a visitor how she could have taken her own child’s life eight years ago. ‘Instead of her suffering the way I do, I thought it was better to get rid of her.’” (Dahlburg)

Indian state governments have sometimes taken measures to diminish the slaughter of infant girls and abortions of female fetuses. “The leaders of Tamil Nadu are holding out a tempting carrot to couples in the state with one or two daughters and no sons: if one parent undergoes sterilization, the government will give the family [U.S.] $160 in aid per child. The money will be paid in instalments as the girl goes through school. She will also get a small gold ring and on her 20th birthday, a lump sum of $650 to serve as her dowry or defray the expenses of higher education. Four thousand families enrolled in the first year,” with 6,000 to 8,000 expected to join annually (as of 1994) (Dahlburg). Such programs have, however, barely begun to address the scale of the catastrophe.

Female Headed Households are largely associated with deprivation and poverty. Though this assertion is contested by some scholars, there is the general consensus that FHHs face obvious limits in accessing productive assets, credit, health care and agricultural services (Buvinic and Gupta, 1997). However, scholars also recognise that among FHHs, poverty is experienced differently, hence lumping them together, as done in most literatures does not paint the right picture of these differences. Two FHHs are identified in the literature – de facto and de jure FHHs (Youssef & Hetler, 1982). Among them, it’s been observed that de facto FHHs are likely to have more resources hence a better standard of life relative to their de jure counterparts. Invariably, these differences translate into different educational opportunities for the children who are located in either of these households. This study is therefore designed to examine how location in a particular FHH affects children’s educational experiences.

1.1. Background to the Study

A growing trend of female-headed households (FHHs) households has been observed in many parts of world, particularly Africa. International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD, 1999) and other authors have noted this to be the result of several factors including, male migration, death of males through natural causes, civil conflicts and wars, un-partnered adolescent fertility, family disruption, divorce and separations (IFAD, 1999; Joshi, 2004; Kabeer, 2003; Zhan & Sherraden, 2003). IFAD undertook a study in eastern and southern Africa where it was found that an estimated 25-60% of rural households in that region were headed by women. Though this range is too wide for comparison, making desegregation difficult, a similar situation has been observed by the Ghana Living Standard Survey (GLSS, 2008). According to the GLSS (2008), the “proportion of FHHS is higher in urban areas outside of Accra (35.1%), rural coastal (34.3%) and rural forest (31.2%) than in Accra (28.1%) and rural savannah (14.9%)” (2008, p 5).

Some empirical studies show that FHHs are poorer, relative to male-headed households (MHH) (see e.g. Buvinic and Gupta, 1997; Rajaram, 2009, Zhan & Sherraden, 2003). According to IFAD (1999), poverty among FHHs results from women’s limited access to land, livestock, other assets, and credit, education, health care and extension services. Buvinic and Gupta (1997) have also argued that woman’s lower average earnings, access to remunerative jobs, and productive resources such as land and capital contribute to their economic vulnerability and hence the vulnerability of the households they head.

However, there is another school of thought that argues that female-headship does not correlate with poverty (see e.g. Dreze & Srinivasan, 1997; Senada & Sergio, 2007), and is in fact empowering for women in the long run (Buvinic & Gupta, 1997; United Nation, 2005). According to the World Survey on the Role of Women in Development, female-headship give women the opportunity to develop their decision-making skills as well the skills needed to coordinate the full social and economic responsibility for the well-being of household members (cited in United Nations, 2005). The survey acknowledged that these skills, coupled with the assumption of male-related task are empowering experiences for women. Moreover, in the IFAD study quoted above, its household budget surveys revealed that rural FHHs are no poorer, and may in fact be less poor, than MHHs.

Among FHHs however, there is evidence to support the fact that poverty differ from one household to the other (Fuwa, 2000; Kabeer, 2003), indicating that these households are not homogenous in nature (Joshi, 2004). For instance, Fuwa (2000) found in Panama that women who head households as a result of widowhood or being unmarried were significantly more disadvantaged in income and non-income measures. Recognizing two types of FHHs – de jure and de facto FHHs – enables some differentiation in poverty experiences. It can be argued that de facto FHHs are generally better off than de jure FHHs in both income and non-income dimensions (Fuwa, 2000; Kabeer, 2003). De jure FHHs results from unmarried adolescents, widowed, divorced or separated women whiles de facto FHHs results from the migration of the male spouse (essentially, the women in de facto FHHs are married but do not reside with their spouses).

The World Survey on the Role of Women in Development emphasized that female headship is empowering. However, it was actually found that it is de facto FHHs that empowers females and not de jure FHHs. Furthermore, findings from studies in Kenya and Zambia argue that the best predictor of whether FHHs is or is not likely to be poor is whether the female head does or does not receive support from a current partner, husband or adult son (IFAD, 1999) or any other economic provider other than themselves. The above arguments illustrate conflicting evidence on the status of FHHs relative to MHHs but the general analysis points to the fact that FHHs are at a relative disadvantage on the poverty scale. Among FHHs however, evidence points out that de facto FHHs are better off than their de jure counterparts.

The correlation between family’s economic resources to a child’s well-being have earlier been established by Becker and Tomes (1986) and Becker (1991, 1993). These authors argued that when “capital markets are perfect, altruistic parents borrow to maximize the net incomes (earnings less debt) of children” whiles in imperfect capital markets – mostly developing countries’ markets- “parents may need to either forsake their own consumption, liquidate some assets, or choose among children. Moreover, expenditures on children’s education will depend not only on the children’s endowments and public expenditure, but also on parental income, parental preferences for child schooling and the abilities of their children” (cited in Joshi, 2004, p 4-5).

It stands then to reason that the more financial resources a family has, the more secured and provided for the children will be and consequently, this will spill over to their academic performance. As a matter of fact, other evidence corroborates this stance. For instance, an 18 years longitudinal study in Detroit Metropolis revealed a positive relationship between income/assets and ward’s school completion (Duane et al, 1984; Hill and Duncan, 1987). In addition, a study done by Joshi (2004) in Bangladesh revealed that children from de facto FHHs had stronger schooling attainments than children in de jure FHHs. Moreover, he found that children from de jure FHHs had a greater propensity to work outside the home. Based on these empirical finding, this study will assess how children’s educational attainment in Ghana are affected by the kind of female-headed household they find themselves in.

1.2 Problem Statement

There is overwhelming empirical evidence which suggest that relative to men, women are disadvantaged in their access to assets, credit, employment, and education, a situation which makes them more vulnerable and hence less able to invest in the education of their children (Joshi, 2004, citing Folbre, 1991; UNDP, 1995; United Nations, 1996; World Bank, 2001). This assertion was further corroborated by Zhan and Sherraden (2003) who found that mother’s wealth and expectations of child’s educational achievement and child’s actual educational outcomes were positively correlated in FHHs. Kyei (2008), citing Ashiabi (2000) minced no words when she asserted that children from poorer households in sub-Saharan Africa have lower educational attainment. This observation has a sobering implication for schooling in Ghana, where despite the government’s Free Compulsory and Universal Basic Education (FCUBE) system, parents are still required to make substantial contribution towards their ward’s education. Some of these contributions come in the form of PTA dues, uniforms, books and supplies, transport, food and lodging and sometimes extra tuition fees (Lloyd and Gage-Brandon, 1996). Although several studies have been done to compare female and non-female headed households, not many have been conducted to compare the academic attainment within the two types of FHHs (Richards and Schmiege 1993). This study therefore seeks to fill this void in literature by comparing children’s pre-tertiary academic achievement of de jure and de facto FHHs in Ghana, using data from the Tema Metropolis in this pursuit.

1.3 Objectives of the research

The main objective of the study is to examine if children’s academic experiences are affected by the particular FHHs they are located.

The specific objectives will be:

Examine whether location within a particular FHH affects children’s retention and completion of school.

Investigate how location within a particular FHH affects the quality of education children receive.

Ascertain how factors such as female heads’ educational attainment, asset holding/landed properties and type of financial support affect children’s educational experiences.

1.4 Hypothesis

HO: Children located in de jure FHHs are less likely to complete their pre-tertiary education than children from de facto FHHs

HA: Children located in de jure FHHs are not less likely (thus equally likely or more likely) to complete their pre-tertiary education than children from de facto FHHs.

HO: Mothers education is more likely to be associated with lower pressures for children to work.

HA: Mothers education is not less likely (thus equally likely or more likely) to be associated with lower pressure for children to work.

1.5 Significance of the Study

The global increase in FHHs makes this study very essential. This is especially so when one notes that failure to solve it leads to associated negative effects or social problems such as streetism, spread of HIV, violence, homicide, suicide among others. This study will especially highlight the differential disadvantages of the two major FHHs, in the light of children’s pre-tertiary academic attainments. This study will especially highlight the differential disadvantages of the two major FHHs, thereby adding to the literature on households and female poverty and children’s pre-tertiary academic attainments.

1.6 Organisation of the Study

The study is organized into five chapters. Chapter One introduces the study – stating the problem to be studied, the objectives as well as the hypothesis for the study. Chapter Two provides a critical review of the existing literature on the subject matter of the study. Chapter Three discusses the methodology employed in this study. It will emphasize the procedure in undertaking this study as well as the method of data analysis used. Chapter Four is presented in two sections. Part I presents the findings of the study. Part II analyzes and discusses the empirical results. Chapter Five summarizes and concludes the study.

CHAPTER TWO
LITERATURE REVIEW
2.0 Introduction

In this review, attempt will be made to critically assess various publications on the subject of FHHs, with a special focus on the two types they are – de facto and de jure FHHs. The bulk of the review will center on how children’s education are affected or facilitated by virtue of the FHHs they are situated in. in addition, the theories that underlie the subject matter will be reviewed, leading to the specifying of the theoretical framework of the study. Finally, some empirical studies, especially Bodenhorn’s (2006) in the US and Gurmu and Etana’s (2013) in Ethiopia will be reviewed

2.1 Definitions of Female-Headed Households

There are multiplicities of meanings associated with the term ”household head”. Fuwa (2000) observed that the multiplicity and near ambiguity associated with the term came about principally because demographers (interviewers) classified people as household heads as a need of survey implementation, i.e., avoid double-counting by classifying a reference person as household head, against whom all the relationship in the home is identified, and not necessary for any analytical purposes. Similarly, Hedman et al posited that the term ”head of household” is used to cover a number of different concepts referring to the chief economic provider, the chief decision maker, the person designated by other members as the head, etc.” (1996:64). Accordingly, the author observed that even where the definition of the term has been relatively adequate, criteria used by interviewers to arrive at their definition are often vague and leave room for subjective interpretation.

However, before the term “household head” can be understood, we have to define the term “household”. Similar to “household head”, there is the general belief that the term “household” is abused. Individual researchers are not alone in their criticism of the rampantly ambiguous use of the term ”household”. Other bilateral organizations, notably the World Bank, also observed that the conception of the term poses challenges in its definition (Rosenhouse, 1989: p 4). In the light of these ambiguities, the Department of International Economic and Social Affairs. (1988) suggested the use of the term ”household reference person”, rather than the household head.

In Ghana, one often cited definition of the term is the one given by the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) in its Population and Housing Census (GSS, 2012). The report defines a household as “a person or group of persons who live together in the same house or compound, share same house keeping arrangement and are catered for as one unit”. This definition will form the working definition of “household” in this study.

Budlender (1997) noted that interest in the definition of households arose out of perceived economic, nutritional, educational and health differences between homes headed by males/females, males and females. According to Buijs and Atherfold (1995)there is the need to desegregate families headed by males and females as it is “directly related to some of the major economic and policy issues confronting developing countries today” (p 1) which will ultimately facilitate those households as “objects of targeted welfare assistance under programmes concerned with the social dimensions of adjustment” O’Laughlin (1996:2).

Similar to the definitions of the household, Hossain and Huda (1995) observed that terms used in defining women households may carry different meaning. Buvinic and Youssef (1978) also posited that households described as “female-headed” cover a wide range of situations ranging from the absence (for a variety of reasons) of a resident male head to the presence of a male who no longer has, or never had, a function of being the principal economic provider (cited in Machado, 1992).

Researchers have classified FHH into two broad categories (Hossain & Huda, 1995; Javed & Asif, 2011; Machado, 1992; Youssef & Hetler, 1978). De jure FHHs are those which do not count on or receive the economic support of a male partner, whereas de facto FHHs are those in which the male partner is absent for some periods or his contribution is marginal (Machado, 1992). Hossain and Huda (1995) also defines de jure household head a permanent head of a particular household while a de facto household head refers to that head of a household who is temporarily taking care of the household (usually acting as a head in absence of the actual head of the household). The underlying assumption in these definitions is that in the FHH, the woman is the main decision maker and in most cases the main economic provider for the household.

2.2 Female Headed Households and Poverty

It is generally accepted that women constitute a greater number of the poor. Among the poor, however, FHHs are considered the poorest (Bradshaw and Linneker, 2003; MOWAC, 2004; UNRISD, 2010). Though this perception has been challenged in several academic treatise (for instance Chant, 2003; Chant 2009) the fact that women and especially female heads of households are considered relatively vulnerable has been embraced by bilateral, multilateral organizations/donors and national policy makers – leading to a concept generally referred to as “feminization of poverty” (Bradshaw & Linneker, 2003).

Commenting on the feminization of poverty, Bradshaw and Linneker (2003) explained that poverty among women can be understood from a multi-dimensional and multi-sectorial perspective and added that “women experience poverty in different ways, at different times and in different social spaces – the society, the community and the household” (p 9). According to Chant (2003), female household headship is more prone to arise in “situations of economic stress, privation and insecurity, through migration, conjugal instability and/or the inability of impoverished kin groups to assume responsibility for abandoned women” (p 6). Bradshaw and Linneker (2003) alluded similar causes when they emphasized that women are poor because of their preoccupation with reproductive (as against productive) activities, the patriarchal ordering of society and the altruistic nature of women which naturally inform their choice of productive activities and allocation of resources. Chant (2003) added that women’s lack of training or education, discrimination in the workplace and inadequate provision for parenting by employers as some of the factors that exacerbate the situation of female heads of households, reinforcing their poverty situation.

The opinion of FHHs as the ‘poorest of the poor’ is founded on a critical examination of complete household earnings, with the conclusion that their earnings are relatively lower than MHH or Couple-Headed Households (CHHs) (Bradshaw & Linneker, 2003; Chant, 2003). Additionally Chant, citing Fuwa (2005), IFAD (1999), ILO (1996) and UNDAW (1991) states that FHHs are relatively poorer than CHH because they lack a “breadwinning partner or an adult male wage earner. Additionally, female heads have the added responsibility of fulfilling several household necessities with their already insufficient funds, such as the offsetting of academic fees and other academic needs.

Possibly one author who has effectively connected female-headship, poverty and educational outcomes is Bodenhorn (2007). He detected that “children raised in mother-only households are more likely to underachieve academically, to drop out of school, to become single parents themselves, to have lower labor-market attachment, and to engage in criminal activity as young adults than children raised in two-parent households” (p 33). The findings of his study will be discussed further in the review.

2.3 The role of Remittances in De facto FHH

The relationship between migration and remittances is well known, almost routinized. Wiafe recognized this relationship when he indicated that “Emigration is a precondition for remittances to come about” (p 23). Adams and Page (2003) define remittances as portion of migrants’ earnings sent from the migration destination to family members or a community back home. They further explained that remittances are usually monetary and other cash transfers but can also be in kind (cited in Wiafe, 2008). Centering more on internal migration, Owusu (2005) defined remittances as “the flow of cash (money) and gifts, referred to as remittances or transfers, between rural and urban” (p 200-201).

The United Nations (2002) estimates that more than 170 million people from developing nations live outside their home countries, sending back more than $80 billion in the early 2000s (cited in Lu and Treiman, 2011). This estimate is modest when one considers Ratha’s (2009). According to him, in 2008, global remittances reached a whopping $330 billion. Similarly, Maimbo (2003) observed that remittances to developing countries far exceed Overseas Development Assistance (ODA) which comes with stringent conditionalities (cited From Wiafe, 2008). Indeed, the potential of remittances have been noted by the IMF and other bilateral institutions (Wiafe, 2008).

However, it must be emphasized that remittances cover everything from individual, firm, formal and informal remittances, most of which does not fall under the preview of this study. The interest of this study is on individual remittances, which mostly move from husbands, family members who remit money to help their relatives back at home. Arguing along those lines, Russell et al (1990) concluded that remittances do not only satisfy subsistence needs, but also aid investments in children’s education, rearing of livestock, farming activities as well as development in small scale enterprise.

Though migration is one major cause of FHHs (de facto FHHs), it’s is also recognized as a huge source of funding for these households, ultimately lifting such households out of poverty. Lu and Treiman (2002) argue that while marital dissolution is the predominant cause of FHHs in the developed world, migration is the major culprit in the developing world. In fact, Lu and Treiman (2011) were blunt in their assertion that FHHs usually benefit from remittances. However, the author did not desegregate which type of FHHs benefit most from remittances. However, from his argument, it can be inferred de facto FHH are a bigger beneficiary of remittances from de jure FHHs. According to Bryant, approximately 15-30% of children in Africa, Asia and Latin America live in households with at least one migrant parent (cited in Lu and Treiman, 2011), further confirming the fact that de facto FHHs are those who benefit most from migration. The author further noted that having one or both parents away for work has thus become a common experience of childhood in many parts of the world. However, despite the economic benefit generated through remittances, McLanahan and Sandefur (994) were quick to point out that children in single-parent house-holds fare less well than their peers who live with both parents (cited from Lu and Treiman. 2011). Again, the focus is on de facto and not de jure FHHs

2.4 The Influence of Family Structure on Children’s Academic Experiences

The previous chapter has traced and established that one disruption to the family structure is migration, of which the de facto FHHs are the major beneficiaries. This disruption has consequences – positive as well as negative, which has been traced as well. In fact, empirical evidence shows that family disruption, which occurs as a result of divorce, death and migration (parental absence) leads to decreased access to physical and social capital, with a rippling effect on educational attainments (Lu and Treiman, 2011). Unfortunately, the trend, especially with respect to migration which leads to greater number of de facto FHH, is observed to be increasing, feeding into the general increase in FHHs.

Duncan and Brooks-Gunn (1997) also observed that the effect of parental absence does not just reflect on educational attainment but might also have such far reaching effects on a child’s cognitive development, physical and psychological well-being. According to Lu and Treiman (2011), “children whose families experience divorce are more likely to drop out of high school, complete fewer years of education, and have lower grades in school”. The author further cite empirical evidence to support that educational outcomes of children from single-mother homes are relatively worse that educational outcomes of children from single-father households. This affirms that though family disruption has its consequences, it is not uniform for all family types that suffer the disruption. It could be quite devastating for some, not-so-devastating for some and very devastating for others. However, the fact still stands that family disruption affect children’s education deleteriously. This observation was buttressed by McLanahan and Sandefur (994) when they emphasized that children in single-parent house-holds (either single-mother or single-father households) fare less well than their peers who live with both parents.

Conducted studies also reveal the adverse effects of marital breakdown in developing countries. However these findings have not followed a steady approach as divorce in these parts of the world is not comparatively rampant and the family unit is rather intricate. (Buchmann and Hannum 2001). A lot of research has rather been devoted to how these intricate family units affect scholarly achievements. It has been observed that better academic opportunities await children living in female headed households in some African nations because it is more probable for these households to devote resources to their children. (Lloyd and Blanc 1996). Other researchers have acquainted themselves with examining the extent to which family units (measurable by sibship size and make-up) affect the devotion of academic resources within their set ups (Gomes 1984). Also, the subject of earlier research involves the role of members of the extended family, especially the contribution of grandparents in enhancing the upbringing of children and causing these children to identify with their extended family. (Buchmann and Hannum 2001).

Academic writings dwelling on academic achievements of children who grow up in resource-deficient homes have observed the input of academic resources. These findings prove that children from wealthier households attend school more and climb up the educational ladder better, (Behrman and Knowles 1997). Furthermore, since education is usually perceived as the preserve for boys in these social environments, girls are relatively disadvantaged because education is often regarded as an extravagance.

2.5 The Influence of Household Head on Children’s Academic Experiences

Parents represent a very crucial factor in the education of children. Their actions or inactions determine whether children go to school or not. Similarly, their presence or absence determines to a large extent what resources are available for children’s education, the choice of the quality of education offered and supervision and hence the general outcomes of educational endeavours. The UNESCO confirmed this when it concluded based on findings in its 2011 Global Monitoring in Yemen, Burundi, Syria, Serbia and Mongolia that patterns of literacy in the general populace are strongly related to wealth and household location.

Consequently, whether ones parents are alive or dead can have a correlation to school enrolment and success in children’s education. According to Gurmu and Etana (2013) the loss of parents – either one or both – represents another channel through which the pattern of allocation of household’s resources influences investment in children’s education. The author however noted that such a loss has far greater or lesser consequences when other factors such as the sex of the child or that of the surviving parent are factored. Particularly, on the sex of the surviving parent, Gertler, Levine, and Ames (2004) noted that the death of a mother could have a greater effect on children (cited from Gurmu and Etana, 2004). However, other studies, such as those of Lloyd and Blac (1996) dispute such a relationship, rather arguing that there is no systematic relationship involved in the sex of parent that survives and children’s education.

Weir (2010), however found results that confirms that children who are situated within FHH have a clear advantage in school enrolment, relative to children in MHH, implicitly confirming Gertler, Levine, and Ames’s (2004) findings. However, I must point out that the researcher did not state whether the MHH implies the presence of a female partner, in which he should have called those households CHHs. Weir (2010) argued that children in FHHs are likely to go to school because of the limited opportunity costs of children’s schooling due to female household heads’ lack of access to productive assets. Again, these findings were disputed by Rose and Al-Samarrai (2001) who rather asserted that there is less likelihood in school enrolment of children situated in FHHs, relative to those from MHHs. Clearly, therefore, empirical evidence is not conclusive as to who has the advantage – whether it is children whose mothers have died or children whose fathers have died. Neither is the literature evidence conclusive as to whether it is children in FHHs or those in MHHs who have the advantage in school enrolment and success in their educational pursuit.

In another twist to the argument, empirical evidence shows that change in the family structure does not have as much impact on children education as much as employment status and level of education of the household head (McKerman & Ratcliffe, 2002; Iceland, 2003; OECD, 2001; Lichter & Crowley, 2003). Ozawa, Sun-Hee and Myungkook (2009) citing Lichter and Crowley (2003) summed that increase in maternal employment from 1996 to 1999 accounted for 50% decline in child poverty, whereas the change in family structure accounted for a meager 7% of the decline. Similarly, McKerman & Ratcliffe (2002) observed a 65.2% probability of exiting poverty through employment whiles that of marriage was 48.2%, with a consequential relationship to children’s education. OECD’s (2001) did a cross-country study that lent a greater credence to this empirical position when they also observed that entry into and exit from poverty were more strongly affected by changes in employment status than by changes in family structure. Ozawa and Lee (n.d.) also argued that “higher level of education of the household heads tends to be positively related to the economic conditions of FHHs” (cited in Ozawa, Lee & Wang, 2007).

The finding does not however, discount family structure as other findings, such as that of Rainwater and Smeeding (1995) runs contrary to it. According to these researchers, family structure very much explains whether a child lives in poverty or not. Specifically, they noted that children in single-parent families are 5.5 times more likely to live in poverty and hence dropout of school relative to children from two-parent families. Similarly, Bodenhorn (2007) asserts that children living in FHHs are more likely to start school later and quit school earlier than children and youths from CHHs. The argument on employment and educational consideration rather tries to remind researchers that one’s location within a particular household is not the only factor that impact on children’s education. Equal attention should be focused on other factors. In fact, it is obvious from McKerman & Ratcliffe (2002) study that though employment has a greater effect than family structure, the difference of only 17% cannot be said to be very significant.

2.6 Models that Explain Children’s Education Experiences

Scholars have tried to explain the various underpinnings that influence children’s schooling. These could be termed the theoretical perspectives that explain the multiplicity of factors determining whether a child schools or not. This section will explain three of those theoretical perspectives – the Human Capital Model, the Family-Economy hypothesis and the Siblings’ Resource-Dilution Hypothesis.

2.6.1 Human Capital Model

The Human Capital Model was developed by Becker and Tomes (1986) as a framework to analyze school enrolment. The theory holds that the resolution of parents to educate their wards is largely dependent on the desired expectations of educating these children as well as the amount of expenditure that will be incurred in having them educated. (Morduch 2000; Pal 2004). Becker and Tomes (1986) explains that parents have altruistic love for their children but the decision to invest in their education is “on the consideration of maximization of resources and redistribution among family members based on their preferences” (cited in Gurmu and Etana, 2013, p8). Accordingly, different socio-economic as well as demographic consider

Over the years, the issues of gender inequality and female empowerment in the developing countries and Sub-Saharan Africa in particular have been a call for concern by local, national, Sub-regional, regional and international Institutions and governments per se to promote development. Unlike women in the developed counties who are, in relative terms economically empowered and have a powerful voice that demands an audience, and positive action, women in the developing countries have been generally silent and their voices have been stifled by economic and cultural factors. In Sub-Saharan Africa, economic and cultural factors, coupled with institutional factors dictate gender based division of labor, rights, responsibilities, opportunities and access to and control over resources. However, literacy, education, employment, access to media as well as decision making are some of the most disputed areas of gender disparity and female empowerment in SSA. (UNDP 2005)

However, this project is focus to analyze why the process of gender and female empowerment is lower than expected in SSA. Therefore, to have a flexible understanding of the analyzes, the project would analyze the issues of gender and empowerment in SSA and to give attention to some country statics and analyses on gender variations in urban and rural milieus. To have a balanced presentation of the analyses, the project would make use of the modernization and inequality theory to argue the facts. Recent studies indicate that women in the developing countries and SSA in particular, lack enough access to productive resources such as land, education, employment, health services, decision making, basic human rights and harmful traditional indicators are some of the socio-economic marginalization of women in these societies.

Analyzes
Gender and education:

In 1948, the Universal Declaration of Human Right acknowledged that everyone has the right to go to school (UDHR article 26), but yet educational inequality is still a major violation of rights of women and girls and an important barrier to social, economic and personal development in SSA. Since then, a number of treaties and declarations have been adopted to turn these aspirations into reality, but nevertheless discrimination on female education remains pervasive in most societies of SSA. (UNESCO 2003) According to DFID (2006), in Sub-Saharan Africa, the highest numbers of out of school girls are in Ethiopia, Ghana, Nigeria and Mozambique.

Considering the case of Mozambique in SSA, gender disparity in primary, secondary and especially tertiary education continuously persist despite government and international stipulations. Following a CIA 2006 report Mozambique has a population of 19.7million and 800,000 square km. and as one of the largest poor countries in southern Africa, faces a set of unique development challenges such as physical and social-cultural infrastructure and effective local administration is far lacking behind. (CIA 2006)

A UNDP (2004) report also points out that 32 percent of the population is 6-18 years of age with annual population growth rate of 2.3 percent and child mortality rate is 152 per 1000 and most Mozambicans are not expected to survive more than 40 years of age due to HIV/AIDS, malaria, and extreme poverty which girls and women are the most vulnerable. Following a similar view, primary education is compulsory and free, but yet parents are unable to afford school needs for kids such as school uniforms, books, shoes and other related materials, because of poverty and other traditional influences and the obvious result is drop out from school and the most affected are girls. (UNDP 2004)

Generally, gender gap in access to education pronounces more in the secondary and tertiary levels in the developing countries and SSA in particular than in primary level. In an article of UNFPA (2005), based on 2001/2002 millennium indicator data base of United Nations, the ratio of female enrollment in the secondary school per 100 boys is 46 in Benin, 57 in Equatorial Guinea, 60 in Cambodia, 62 in Djibouti and 65 in Burkina Faso. The report therefore indicate that disparity in education increases at higher level of studies in most developing countries of SSA (UNFPA 2005)

Although the problem of gender disparity in education have been affected by poverty and traditional upheavals, the government and International Institutions have taken drastic measures to ensure a balance in education on both sexes in most developing societies and communities (SSA). Yet there is still a grand difference between rural and urban enrollment in most of this societies. However, the issue of gender inequality remains a fact in educational sector though might equate as time elapses in SSA.

Gender and employment:

One of the areas where there is high gender disparity between males and female in SSA is at the employment status which is manifested at occupational segregation, gender based-wage gaps, women?s misappropriate representation in the informal employment, unpaid jobs and higher unemployment ratio (UNDP 2005) “if development is not engendered it is endangered” (ibid) This means that the fact that women are under-represented in the formal sector hampers development since traditional Muslim women and rural African women are mostly engaged in domestic unpaid jobs.

As women in Sub-Saharan Africa have low status in the community, the activities they perform tend to be less valued and that explains why women?s low status is perpetrated by their low status activities (ibid). “Almost everywhere women are worst paid than men in the same work done”(Hedman 1996 p; 19) In-depth analyses on women employment status by Hindin (2005) showed that only 17% women in Zimbabwe, 12% in Zambia and 4% in Malawi are employed at higher status paid jobs meanwhile the respective percentages of women whose partners have higher status jobs are 52, 43 and 53 percentages (Hindin 2005, p; 121)

Women are overrepresented in the informal sector in the developing countries especially in Sub-Saharan Africa. The 2009 World Economic Forum Gender Gap Report holds that women in SSA have very difficult working conditions and even harsh particularly in countries with higher informal sectors. These women have undefined work places, unsafe and unhealthy working conditions and often low level of skills and productivity. They receive low or irregular incomes; have long working hours, lack access to information, market, finance training and technology. According to the same report, rural African women are the most affected by this situation, about 85 % in Somalia, 70 % in Gambia and 90 % in Zimbabwe respectively. (WEFGGR 2009)

Following a BBC world news report 2005, rural African women do not have access to media to get more information on market situation and world trends since most of them are illiterates, poor and local farmers. According to this report, less than 2% of rural Sub-Saharan African women read newspaper and women are disadvantaged with regard to women access to watch television. The report indicated that in the year 2000, among girls and women aged 6-49, only 3.6% and 6.9% had access to television in Malawi and Rwanda respectively. (BBC world news report 2005)

Employment gender segregation is mostly found in rural areas than urban cities in developing countries. Take for instance in Cameroon in SSA, employment gender related issue are lower in big cities such as Yaounde, Douala, Baffoussam, Ebolowa, Bamenda and many other major cities than in rural outskirt villages where the main source of employment is farming. Here women do the bulk of the job though informal but are relegated at the background because of traditional beliefs. Local farming is the main source of employment, but yet traditional norms do not give women access to landownership, credit accounts and a complicated inheritance tradition is practiced. (Cameroon tribune 2004)

Gender and Decision making:

The fact that Sub-Saharan African women have low access to education, employment chances and couple with limited media access and other cultural upheavals minimizes their decision making power in general and in the household as well. (UNDP 2005) “No society treat it women the same as men” (ibid). Regarding decision making at household level, local level, community level, and national level of women in Africa, though parliamentary representation has lightly increase, no country in the world has reach gender parity level in decision making.(ibid). According to data obtain from the millennium development indicator of the United Nations; cited in UNPFA (2005) women represent 16% of world parliamentary seats, 21% in the developed world, and 14% in the developing countries. This minimal parliamentary representation of women could be due, among other issues, different electoral systems in different countries, women?s socio-economic status, socio-cultural status, traditional and other cultural beliefs of women?s place in the family and society and of course women?s double burden of work and responsibilities. (UNFPA 2005)

Women?s low decision power, particularly in SSA, is more pronounced at the rural than urban localities as well as in house hold decisions making. According to a survey carried out by Emmanuel Vasty (1993) about 50% of women in the Northern Muslim region of Nigeria stated that they cannot freely purchase children?s clothing without the full decision of their husband nor carry a child to the hospital without the authorization of their husbands. This they claim is according to Muslim tradition and beliefs that a man is superior in every aspect and therefore they have to succumb to men?s orders. (Emmanuel, 1993 p; 74)

Similarly, data of low decision power making is seen in the analyzes of Hindin (2005) in join SSA countries such as Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Malawi, Somalia and Cameroon. According to Hindin analyzes, rural women are the most low powered than urban women in these conutries. In the rural villages where strong traditional beliefs prevail and are in favor of men, men are more likely to have a final say over women?s own health care, large household purchases, visiting relatives, what food to cook as well as the number of kids to bear and when to have this children. Most of these decisions are jointly made in urban households since most of the females are well exposed and educated therefore participate in household decision making. (Hindin 2005, p; 164)

Gender and poverty:

According to IFAD (2005) it is asserted that there is feminization of poverty in gender especially in SSA and mostly in local outskirt villages and around urban slumps. That generally, poverty among women is rising faster than poverty among men. Following the same IFAD survey report, the poverty level of women living in the rural areas and urban slumps increased to 48% in 1965-70 and in the mid 1980s, by comparison, the numbers of poor men were 30% within the same period. “poverty has a woman?s face-of 1.3 billion people living in poverty, 70% are women” (ibid) This clearly indicate that women are the most vulnerable in extreme situations like war, disease, widowhood, poor inheritance rights, ownership of resources, and other traditional and cultural factors contribute to the high rate of female poverty level. (IFAD 2005)

“Gender subordination does not arise out of poverty per se, though a strong association is often made between gender and poverty, women are said to form the majority of the poor” according to UNDP (2004 p; 7) This means that Sub-Saharan African women despite the gender fight to reduce poverty are still subjected to poverty because of their subordinated position in the society. Developing women especially in SSA are not yet free because of strong traditional attachment and the fact that they are relegated at a private influence keep them dependant to their partners.(UNDP, 2004, p; 7)

According to Kabeer (1996) traditional subordination is the key factor of poverty among girls and women in the following developing African countries Ethiopia, Somalia, Burundi, Rwanda, Nigeria, Burkina Faso and Chad. Kabeer argue that because these countries are both made up of Muslims and Christians, women and girls in the Muslim sector of the countries are bound to be affected by poverty because of strict Muslim customs and traditions. The main source of income is by pastoral normadism in rural areas wondering from place to place in search of greener pastures for cattles. These local nomads have to move along with their wives and kids which indicate that steady education is not secured for the girls and other children and the wife depends soly on the sale of cattles for sustenance and decision on sales is carried out by the man. Therefore, the wife and kids stay poor and voiceless at the background. (Kabeer 1996, p; 89)

Kabeer in his analyzes further argue that rural women in developing countries especially in SSA are always affected by poverty because they are mostly engaged in non income paying jobs at the private spheres and in the household while measure financial decisions and income jobs are done by the men. In a typical traditional African setting women stay at home to take care of kids, prepare food, clean up the house, do laundry, and other domestic unpaid jobs. Meanwhile men go out there in search of income paid jobs and according to traditional beliefs a good wife is one who is not carelessly seen in public. That is why women are dumfounded with poverty and take whatever men give to them without much argument. However, some households have realized that it is necessary for women to be educated and have a job that would reduce the burden on men and relief women from poverty. (ibid)

Gender and Health:

“Gender gaps are also persistent in health status in access to health services and health outcomes” (World Bank 1993, cited in WHO 1995, p; 21) This means that the issue of gender inequality, poverty and female empowerment needs to be addressed in health status reforms in Sub-Saharan Africa and especially in the interior villages where there are little or no health services and women are badly affected during pregnancy to birth. In conformity with the same survey carried out by WHO in 1990, rural masses in SSA, over 36% of healthy lives are lost by adult women age 15-44 was caused by reproductive health problems especially maternity related causes and sexually transmitted diseases (STD) compared to only 12% for men. There is therefore a clear indication that women are more vulnerable to sexually transmitted diseases and complicated health issues especially during delivery. Following the same survey, an additional 5% of healthy life lost by women caused by domestic violence and rape. (WHO 1995, p; 21)

“It is certain that the gap between the health status of the rich and poor is at least wide like a century ago and have become wider still” (ibid) Health policies to improve the lives of the poor have been the main focus for the past 25 years and rural women are the most endangered by poor health services since most communities go without a full train medical doctor. Health diagnoses are done by traditional herbalist and women are vulnerable to more contracted and complicated health problems. (WHO 1995)

According to UNICEF (2004) the disparity between developed and developing countries maternity mortality ratio is greater than for any other indicator. Every year around 200 million women become pregnant, approximately 150 million come to terms, 20 million of the pregnancies are unsafe abortions many of which tend out to have complications, disabilities and death, of the remainder there are 500,000 maternal deaths and a further 20 million women suffer severe and disability poor pregnancy management and delivery (WHO 1994) However, the majority of the affected in maternity mortality is in the developing countries in the aforementioned statistics. It was estimated by WHO 1994 that, in Chad, Somalia, Burkina Faso, Nigeria, and Cameroon approximately, there are 10 medical doctors per 1000 pregnant women in urban city general hospital in SSA and 1 medical doctor in a whole rural sub-division with approximated population of 5000 people. (World Bank 1994, p; 2, WHO 1995/UNICEF 1996)

Gender and Power:

The influence of power greatly affect gender relations especially in household decision making and power differ depends on the region and level of exposure of the female. From every indication, African girls and women have been deprived of their rights and power and this have been however backed by traditional justifications. This has been a prevalent in many Sub-Saharan African countries that practice patriarchal succession especially in countries like Ethiopia, Somalia, Rwanda, Burundi, Burkina Faso, Equatorial Guinea, and Cameroon respectfully. There is a traditional belief in these countries that women have to be docile, submissive, tolerant, answerable, obedient, loyal, domestic and faithful for which there is traditional justification. These superior rights given to boys by tradition compel females to be inferior and lack total power and control over their own lives and obligations. (Hirut 2004 p; 35-42)

The socialization processes that determines gender roles in Sub-Saharan Africa are partly the reasons for the subjugation of females in these countries and societies rendering them powerless to an extent. Power determines the level of inequality between sexes and power relations differ from urban to rural and the more education a female acquire the more she become empowered and ignores most traditional subordination norms. Therefore, education gives power to most females to know their rights and obligations though traditional values still prevail despite the amount of education a female acquire in SSA. The issue of power relations in most households is felt differently in urban and rural areas in SSA. (ibid)

The differences in the way individuals are treated through their socialization process, due mainly to their sex status, leads to real psychological and personality problems between males and females irrespective of their level of exposure. In most African countries, society is socialized in such a way that boys have autonomous powers and girls are rendered inferior. In the process of upbringing boys are expected to learn and become self reliant, bread winners, authoritative, decisive and responsible in different activities meanwhile girls are brought up to conform, obedient, dependant, and specialized in private spheres activities like cooking, washing clothes, fetching water, caring for children and other household domestic activities irrespective of their level of education and exposure. This traditional socialization processes and unequal opportunities have made the process of gender equality slow in most Sub-Saharan African countries. (ibid)

Gender and Culture:

The fight on gender equality and female empowerment have been greatly influenced by cultural factors in the developing countries. Most African countries such as Nigeria, Cameroon, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Ivory Coast etc have diverged cultural backgrounds and have different perceptions on the issue of gender and female empowerment. (UN 2005) Traditional and religious beliefs have been the major cultural roadblocks for gender equality and female empowerment. Considering the fact that most African countries have Christians and Muslim populations, the issue of gender is more obstructed by the Muslim since Muslim norms are a taboo if disrespect. (Hirut 2004) Generally speaking, traditional norms, Muslim norms and Christian beliefs accept female subordination as a good practice and hence make it difficult for equality to reign in developing societies. (ibid)

A UNDP (2005) report indicates that female enrolment in schools is generally lower in Muslim sectors than Christians? in countries that have both Muslim and Christian populations in SSA. This means that education which is the main tool for female empowerment and gender equality is considered wastage of resources in some Muslim communities because of stiff Islam beliefs. Christian and other traditional beliefs also favor female subordination exposing men at a dominant position causing major obstacles for female empowerment. Although more Christians and Muslim societies have realized the importance of female education that gives girls and women power through employment and exposure, other factors such as poverty and traditional mal practices are still a socio-cultural hindrance to the issue of gender and female empowerment in SSA. (ibid)

Conclusion:

In the end, the issue on gender and female empowerment in the development process of Sub-Saharan African remains a heated debate among scholars, theorist, Institutions, researchers, Governments, NGOs and International Organizations to find a kind of approach to intrude in the cultural justification of female subordination in the development process of SSA. Contrasting studies have also questioned if the fight for gender equality and female empowerment is an actual push to enhance African development or it is just a way to impose western and North American superiority?

The question on “why is the issue of gender equality and female empowerment slower than expected” in the development process of SSA is a question of perspective. Many reasons can account for high gender inequality and low female empowerment in SSA, but this depends on which angle the problem is viewed. Throughout the project, the problem of gender inequality and slow female empowerment have been viewed at a cultural and traditional dimension explained by inequality and the modernization theory meaning that the project have choose to analyze the problems of inequality on the factors caused by culture and traditional values in SSA. That not withstanding, the same question can be analyzed by other economic and socio-political factors.

In the course of the project, a lot of factors have been illustrated as elements responsible for gender inequality and slow female empowerment in the development process of Sub-Saharan Africa. The elements analyzed by the project as responsible for high gender inequality in SSA are poverty, illiteracy, cultural barriers, traditional beliefs, disease and HIV/AIDS, unemployment, decision making and the issue of power sharing are all accountable for low female empowerment in the development process of SSA. Research have proven that the slow development process in SSA is not about gender equality, because gender inequality exist everywhere in the world, and inequality still exist among sexes regardless of the level of development a society have undergone.

In connection to the two theories used in the beginning of this project, it is crystal clear that gender inequality would still persist irrespective of the technological advancement of a society. This is clearly seen by tracing the origin of male domination, sex distinction and predisposition of men in extreme conditions as explained by the inequality theory. In the other hand, cultural roadblocks are viewed by the modernization school as the reason for wide gender gap in the development process of SSA. That notwithstanding, cultural values endures despite technological improvement in any society.

However, the issue of gender inequality needs a serious attention from both local, national, sub-regional, regional governments and International Organization to seek for alternative approaches in the development process of SSA. Although policies and institutions have been put in place pertaining women?s participation in the development process of SSA, existing programs and strategies should be reviewed to make the efforts more effective and innovative. To empower and integrate women in the fight for gender equality and the development process of SSA, the local government and International Institutions can embark on the following, intensify family planning methods, encourage more female education, fight early marriages and create conditions for women to work and earn an income, focusing on gender rural development programs especially working to bring cultural evolution toward gender equality in all aspects, and strategies of such programs should consider region specific problems i.e. customs and traditions in order to be more effective. This project ends up asking some questions for further investigation by other researchers, Can the equation of gender and female empowerment actually facilitate the development process of Africa? Or the true problems of Africa?s underdevelopment are political and economic stagnation caused by it tragic history.

ABSTRACT : There has been a spate of discussions at various levels especially at the the top hierarchy of the successive governments with reference to apprehension of women empowerment in our country India. Besides it has also been a meeting point of contradicting themes that has resulted in a status quo. The women who stand to gain from governmental measures are already empowered and the vast majority of them, who mostly hail out from rural regions , are still regarded inferior to men in most spheres. In view of this the present paper makes an attempt to highlight how it contradicts as in the state of Kerala which has created a congenial atmosphere for the emergence of women empowerment and development of women entrepreneurship through Kudumbashree. ‘Kudumbashree’, which mean prosperity (shree)‘ of the family ( Kudumbam) is the name of the women oriented, community based, State Poverty Eradication Mission of Government of Kerala. Kerala is a tiny state lying in the south-west part of Indian federation, where many development experiments are being tested, refined and implemented. The mission aims at the empowerment of women, through forming self-help groups and encouraging their entrepreneurial or other wide range of activities. The purpose of the mission is to ensure that the women should no longer remain as passive recipients of public assistance, but active leaders in women involved development initiatives.

Keywords : women empowerment, contradicts , active leaders, Kerala

OBJECTIVES : The present paper makes an attempt to highlight the success stories associated to women empowerment, initiatives taken, incentives provided by a unit named Kudumbashree operating widely in the state of Kerala.

INTRODUCTION: Women in business is a recent phenomenon in India. They have confined themselves to petty business and tiny cottage industries. They are found in vegetable selling, making pickles, papads etc The spread of education and increased awareness are aiding women to spread their wings into the areas which were the monopoly of men. On the whole, proper education of women in Kerala resulted in high motivation among them to enter into business. The financial, marketing and training assistance provided by the State Government also helped motivate women to assume entrepreneurial career. Women’s desire to work at the place of residence, difficulty of getting jobs in the public and private sectors and the desire for social recognition also motivated women in Kerala for self –development. Kudumbashree was launched by the Government of Kerala in 1998 for wiping out absolute poverty from the State through concentrated community action under the leadership of Local Self Governments, Kudumbashree is today one of the largest women-empowering projects in the country. The programme has 37 lakh members and covers more than 50% of the households in Kerala. Built around three critical components, microcredit,entrepreneurship and empowerment, the Kudumbashree initiative has today succeeded in addressing the basic needs of the less privileged women, thus providing them a more dignified life and a better future. Real empowerment occurs only when rights can be legitimately claimed and are universally acknowledged. It is the endeavor of Kudumbashree to bring the discussion on women’s rights and issues into the heart of the development debate. The organisational structure and capacity building programmes of kudumbashree attempt to develop the leadership capabilities and opportunities for intervention in development activities. The Gender Self Learning Programme is a unique experiment to consolidate women’s voices and discuss gender disparities.

OVERVIEW:

The network of Kudumbashree projects across Kerala is beginning to bear fruits not only in the form of fiscal independence for women but also with a new found self confidence. Kerala is witnessing a silent revolution, spawning womanpower, possibly restoring to the State its lost matriarchal legacy, where the women enjoyed pre-eminence, safety, security and respect, including self-respect. This female empowerment is taking place through the Kudumbashree movement, which has engulfed the State. In Ernakulam district alone there are 19,2424 women in rural and urban areas contributing Rs. 22 crores through deposits to the State economy. Each member contributes Rs 10 a week, which is achieved through a phenomenal feat by trusting women, awakening their inherent saving instinct and abilities to achieve. From the thrift amount loans are granted to them which they return in just three weeks. Loans upto Rs. 26 crores are given to them. Earlier, they had no money of their own to spend or invest. Now they have achieved monetary empowerment, self-reliance and freedom,” said Kabir B. Haroon, District Mission Co-ordinator of Kudumbashree in Ernakulam.

When one re-scripts their earlier life scenario it is easy to recapture the anguish and trauma they would have experienced in situations, as when school opened. “They had to buy bags, books, umbrellas etc. for their children and often they never had the money for it and had to borrow from blade companies, paying exorbitant interest. Now they say, quite proudly, that they are borrowing from their own investments. Similarly, they take loans from their own deposits to celebrate Onam, Christmas or Bakri id. Many of them say that they have lost their enslavement because they are not dependent on anyone anymore. Kudumbashree alone has collected Rs.230 crores as deposits and lent Rs 320 crores as loans.

Across Kerala, Kudumbashree covers 991 panchayats and 58 municipalities. Through this network women have the freedom to demand, and to receive money without red tape. In fact, banks volunteer to lend money to Ayalkoottams. Like the Dhanalakshmi Bank, which plans to lend Rs.300 crores to Kudumbashree Ayalkoottams alone, testifying the credibility and investor confidence the women have inspired under the Kudumbashree network.

Each Community Development Society (CDS) under the Kundumbasree project is an independent entity, registered under the Charitable Society Act, sans governmental interference. Everyone gets to share responsibility as office bearers, but not more than twice. There are health and education volunteers, infrastructure volunteers, income-generation volunteers, a secretary, and a president, who heads but does not rule. Since the role of Mayor or Panchayat president is limited, the women face no interference or influence from men, unlike in the Panchayat where political influences and husbands often rule by proxy. The women are free to present crucial issues like water, power or housing before the Grama Sabha under the Ayalkootam network.

The flagship of the Ernakulam Kudumbashree is the Kuttampuzha tribal belt where the women are so empowered that they have been able to control the price line in the Kothamangalam belt and even ban arrack, both its brewing and consumption. The women engage jeeps to buy provisions and vegetables in bulk and sell them to members at the cheapest possible price, thus controlling the prices in the area. This is the impact of women in Kuttampuzha, Earlier, rice had to be distributed to adivasis to prevent starvation deaths. Now it is the Kudumbasree, which ensures that adivasis get their quota of rice. In this adivasi belt the thrift deposit amount is Rs. 44 lakhs and the loans amount to Rs. 80 lakhs.

These poor women become conscious not only of fiscal saving but also about saying that they have effectively managed plastic ban by introducing cloth bags and have started using areca-nut frond (Paala) as plates at functions not only to boost plastic ban but also to protect the areca trees. Women have also taken over the sale of tender coconuts and have started manufacturing `Kerashree’ coconut oil.The snowball ice cream is another new and popular venture of these women. Made out of tender coconut, which is not slit open to extract the tender flesh, but is stirred inside and drunk, using a straw has gained popularity among foreign tourists. This project is under the aegis of Centre for Spices and Research, Government of India.

IT SECTOR

Women under the Kudumbasree have also entered the IT field through data entry and in assembling units. Kudumbashree computer centre has developed hardware for printing ration card, etc. Kudumbashree units also impart IT education in 158 schools in Kerala, with a Rs.10 crores grant from the Union Govt. Six girls in each unit acquire the skill to teach students of classes eight and nine, under this scheme. Kudumbashree women are acquiring computer literacy and also supply computer hardware to such schools.

TOURISIM AND ALLIED SECTORS

The Kudumbashree is having an impact across Kerala. In Fort Kochi, the beach is cleaned and maintained by the women, who collect Rs.1200 for it from the Tourism Department.They also maintain the heritage zone . Women have also stepped in to produce ethnic fast food with help from the Syndicate Bank. They manufacture bakery items and reach them directly to houses, as well as provisions, like rice, soaps tea etc; often earning up to Rs.16,000 a month. There are at least 450 women in this field, who have sold around Rs. 18 lakhs worth provisions during the 10 days of Onam collecting Rs.3,000 each in the bargain.

DIRECT MARKETING

Direct marketing has become the hallmark of Kudumbashree thus eliminating middlemen and ensuring that actual profits reach the producer. There are 45 direct marketing units in Ernakulam District. In all, Kudumbashree has effected a healthy change in the Kerala scenario. The women have become self-confident under it and they have regained their individuality and also gives an avenue to step out, to interact, to expand their horizons which is no more limited to the four walls of our homes.

EMPOWERMENT STORIES UNDER THE ROOF OF KUDUMBASHREE
NOW WOMEN CAN CLIMB COCONUT TREES (December 15,2009)

Climbing coconut trees is considered to be the monopoly of men, and increasingly it is felt that there are fewer people to climb. These views may be a thing of the past as Kudumbashree and Raidco initiated a tree climbing training programme. A package has been developed, where the equipment costing Rs 2350 and which can climb even the most twisted coconut trees, is given together with a Scooty, mobile phone at a total cost of Rs 40000 for which a bank loan can be availed. Kudumbashree provides a subsidy of Rs 7500. The Panchayat also provides support for equipment purchase. Women from 90 Gram Panchayats took part in the training cum demonstration organized at the Mallapuram Municipal Compound. It takes two weeks of training and practice to master climbing trees with these equipment. The equipment is currently in use in Nedirippur- Harijan Colony, Chungattam and Edakari, where each person makes an average income of Rs 650 per day. Traditional climbers also find this equipment useful and found out that they don’t suffer from chest pain while using it. The equipment also has a mechanism whereby it can be locked and the top of the tree cleaned effectively. Technically professional climbers can work upto 110 trees in five hours.

A WOMEN TURNS INTO A STORY MAKER

It’s not often that an inborn talent becomes a business and a way of life. Ordinarily Jesse Thomas’ talent would not have been noticed, but many people know her today because of her unique ‘product’- books, which she writes and publishes. Not only does she write but also publishes, popularizes and builds a reader base for her books. Jesse Thomas is based in Thrissur. Her husband Thomas drives an autorickshaw, and she has two children-Justin and Tesse. Jesse started writing at the age of eleven. Her friends were her first readers and critics. She wrote about everyday life and things that she saw around her. With the encouragement of her teachers, her story was published in a magazine from Enrakulam, Pushparani ; when she was 13 years old. Thereafter six other stories were published, but her first book was published only in December 2008. For Jesse, who had to discontinue educated after the 9^th standard to care for her siblings, this is remarkable perseverance. The lack of formal education was not detterent to her urge to tell stories, and she kept writing. Her mother supported the family by selling vegetables after father left his wife and five children in a state of penury. Jesse married Thomas when she was twenty yers. Thomas has been a source of strength and encouragement and has supported her efforts to write and publish. Jesse received support from the Thrissur Corporation under SJSRY with a loan of Rs 75000. With this she wrote and published the book “ Jeevanude Vilakku Enniki Kittum” ( I will get the lamp of life ). Though her popularity increased and the sales were reasonable she still has unsold books and a loan to repay. She however did not give up and continues to write and publish. Jesse is the President of the Namma Neighbourhood Group in the 25^th ward of Thrissur Corporation. It’s a common sight to see her books being displayed alongside pickles and dried products at the Kudumbashree monthly market. Jesse has learnt the challenges in publicity and sales through experience, but has the self –confidence to move forward. Her activity is unusual and is driven purely by her talent and enthusiasm, but with the right support, she could become a well known writer.

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AN OFFERING OF TURMERIC IN HARIPADA

Cultivation of turmeric is not widespread in Kerala. Seasonal rainfall and open land without shade is needed for turmeric cultivation. Middlemen take most of the profits and procedures with meager returns. Sixty women from several neighbourhood groups in Haripada Gram Panchayat in Allapuzha district, decided to take up turmeric cultivation. Turmeric is an offering at the Mannarashala temple of serpent gods which has several women devotees. The turmeric production is a joint initiative of Kudumbashree and the Panchayat under the Samagra initiative. Of the 60 women from five Gram Panchayats involved in this activity, 30 are engaged in cultivation and 30 in production of seeds. Each day 50kg of turmeric is harvested and supplied to the temple through an agency. The market is assured and they are not exploited by middlemen. It is hoped that as they gain confidence, the women will directly take up marketing activities as well.

NEW WAYS TO ADDRESS MILK SCARCITY

Nature Fresh is a new initiative of Kudumbashree for production of marketing of milk. It has been initiated in Edavetti Grama Panchayat in Idukki District and Kannadi Grama Panchayat in Palakkad District. 55 Kudumbashree enterprises across 14 wards of Kannadi village are involved in this enterprise. 50 women with dairy units of two cows each are engaged in milk production and 5 women are involved in sale of milk. These nterprises have been established at a cost of Rs 35.5 lakhs wherein Rs 16 lakhs has been provided by Palakkad Disatrict Panchayat and Rs 19 lakhs as bank loan. The integrated intervention addresses all stages of dairy management. Each dairy unit with two cows and calves has a shed of 430sq.ft. The floor is designed such that no dung or water stagnates, and is drained out effectively. The shed is well ventilated and easy to clean. There is also water storage facility in the shed. Each unit has an equipment box. All families are trained in scientific care of the animals. The milk is tested and must meet basic standards of 3.5% fat and lactometer reading of 28 for the milk to be accepted for marketing. The milk is bottled and sold to houses within an hour of milking. In Kerala which faces a scarcity of milk, the Nature Fresh experiment in Idukki district sets an example. Kudumbashree proposes to initiate the Nature Fresh initiative in two Gram Panchayats in all districts.

GENDER SELF LEARNING PROGRAMME

Kudumbashree have been working on a programme that aims at getting women to discuss the gender dimension of their issues. For this they had to break the mould of thrift and credit based discussions which alone were taking place, apart from the odd health or other dissemination .Locally contextualised modules on issues such as women and work, women and health, women and mobility, women and entertainment are developed and deliberated in Neighbourhood Group meetings. The different voices of women and their perceptions about the topics of discussion are captured on a web-based portal accessible at the level of the Local Self Government. The portal is being developed with the support of the Minister of Information Technology, Government of India Awareness building programmes seem not to leave any sustained impact. It was felt therefore that a learning process in which the women felt themselves to have a stake, and would be delivered not through trainings, but through discussions focusing on some aspect of their lives and livelihoods they could relate to, either through a story line, or through some other format- press cuttings, poems, skit etc. had to be the mode of delivery. State level consultations help identify the themes of the ‘learning modules’, The content for the learning modules are prepared by local women resource persons, who source the stories out of their own experiences for further contextualisation and development. Once the modules are developed, they are consolidated and disseminated by resource persons in the neighbourhood groups. Women are encouraged to ask questions about themes ranging from work and environment to health, power and power structure. Kudumbashree is actively involved in the myriad aspects of implementation of the programme, from job card registration through labour budgeting and work site facilitation to social audit. Moreover, it is the single rights based programme spearheaded by the state, which recognizes women’s work participation concerns as a matter of rights and equity.

CONCLUSION : Today there is a great awakening among women. Given an opportunity, they will deliever the results. Empowerment of women is absolutely necessary in straightening her personality. The need of an hour is to provide an opportunity in a conducive atmosphere free from gender difference. The need for awareness motivationto be an active member of the society and courage the faults of male counterparts are great challenges today. The above paradigm is about inclusive growth through self-employment opportunities that every strata in our society can access influencing a transformational change in delievering self-sustaining profitability.

REFERENCES : 1) Vasant Desai (2011)(Ed) , “The Dynamics of Entrepreneurial Development and Management”- Planning for Future Sustainable Growth, Himalaya Publishing House

2) S.S Khanka (2001)(Ed), ‘Entrepreneurial Development’- S. Chand Publications

3) The Hindu – Online edition of India National Newspaper http://www.kudumshree.org/ on Monday , Nov 03 ,2003

Family Systems Therapy is undergirded by a variety of theoretical approaches all of which focuses on human problems which result from relationships. As individuals we are encouraged to be autonomous, independent, make our choices and accept the consequences of these choices. This individualist stance seems to contradict the reality that we are born into families and spend our lives attached to a family either our own creation or one into which we are born. It is within these families that we learn, grow and develop. It is to these families we turn in times of hardships or triumphs.

Family Systems Theories postulate that individuals are best understood within the context of their family. Like a living organism, families have properties which none of the individuals have, these properties are destroyed when members of the family are considered as individuals. Family systems theories shift the focus from individuals to the patterns in their relationships. Nichols 2009aˆ¦p102. The behaviors manifested in one family member are linked to the behaviour of other members and may be a hallmark of how the family system functions not just symptoms of one member’s maladjustment.

The difficulties of the presenting family member may, according to Corey 2009aˆ¦ p.412

Serve a function and purpose in the family

Be unintentionally maintained by the family

Be a function of the family’s inability to operate productively

Be a symptom of the dysfunctional patterns handed down across generations.

This kind of approach is very different from the framework of individual psychology which conceptualizes human problem in an intrapsychic framework.

The body of knowledge known as Family Systems Theory arises from observations by counselors as they work with individuals and their family. According to family system theories families are systems of interconnected and interdependent individuals. They do not exist in isolation whatever affects the individual affects the entire system.

Perhaps the most fundamental concept of how families operate is that the family is a system which has a tendency to “maintain stability by using information about its performance as feedback” Nichols (2009)aˆ¦p98. In this theoretical framework a family is considered to be cybernetic. At the heart of cybernetics is the feedback loop which determines whether the current operation of the system is acceptable and if not attempts to make the necessary changes. The feedback can either be negative or positive. Negative feedback is not bad but indicates that the system needs to take corrective measures to return to stability. Positive feedback may have negative consequences as it may serve to reinforce an error in the system. In order to maintain this stability, there are family rules and family roles. Family Roles-this is a description of what is expected of each family member. At a basic level there are roles of father, mother, daughter, sister and so on, but there are less obvious roles for example one member may assume the role of the responsible one or the humorous one as the case may be.

Family Rules-these are often understood by member of the family although not written down and often unspoken; they set guidelines for how the family operates. For example a family would understand who makes the final decision in important matters. Although family members may see these “rules” as just the way things are they may or may not be aware that different families would do the same thing differently.

The pioneers of family therapy recognized that social and cultural forces shape our values, thoughts and our concept of normal, but it was Murray Bowen that first defined a family theory. According to him, the history of our family creates a mold that shapes our values thoughts and experiences. He further suggested that this mold is passed from one generation to the next.

Bowen’s theory focuses on two counterbalancing life forces. The first is togetherness and the second is individuality. When a family shares too much togetherness, fusion is created and where there is too much individuality the result is estranged family. He introduced eight interrelated concept to explain how families develop and function.

Differentiation of self is the ability to distinguish and maintain personal thoughts feeling goals and identity in the face of emotional and social pressures to do differently.Differentiation of self is the cornerstone of Bowen’s theory. This involves the psychological separation of intellect and emotions and the independence of self form others. It is ability to think and reflect and not respond automatically to emotional pressure. Differentiated people have the ability to balance their feeling and thoughts, they are capable of strong emotion, yet posses self restraint. They are able to take a stand on issues and have the ability to think decide and act on what they believe. Undifferentiated people act emotionally they tend to be impetuous displaying submissiveness or defiance. They find it difficult to be autonomous and are unable to take clear position on issues. They tend to reflect the dominant emotional pattern in the family.

Emotional triangles are formed when two people who are unable to resolve a problem draw a third person into the conflict. The third party’s involvement may be short lived so forcing the two people to resolve their differences. If the third parties involvement becomes long term then a triangle becomes a part of the relationship. Triangulation ease the tension but “freezes the conflict in place” Nicholas (2008) aˆ¦p128 and eventually undermines the relationship. According to Nicholas 2008 most family problems are triangular.

Nuclear Family Emotional processes are the emotional patterns in a family that continue over generations. A partner who lacks differentiation in his her family of origin may become emotionally cut off from hisher parents and this would lead to fusion in marriage. Fusion can produce different effects on the marriage including emotional distance between partners, marital conflicts, physical or emotional dysfunction in one partner or projection of the problem on one or more of the children Nicholas & Shwartz, 2008aˆ¦ p 128.

A parent lack of differentiation is transmitted to children in Family projection process. An undifferentiated mother may become attach to a child (or children) because she has decided that her spouse is inattentive to her. The mother would project her lack of differentiation to the child who is most attached. This child will achieve least differentiation and more vulnerable to problems. ” aˆ¦the more the mother forces her attention n the child the more the child’s functioning is impaired” Nichols and Shwartz ,2008—p129

Multigenerational Transmission Process describes the transmission of anxiety from one generation to another. This is the unconscious passing on of anxiety which overrides the adaptive thinking and behavior of succeeding generations.

Sibling Position – children develop personality characteristics based on their position in the family.

Emotional Cut Off describes the way people manage anxiety between generations. “the greater the emotional fusion between parents and children the greater likelihood of cut off” Nicholas and Shwartz 2008aˆ¦p130

Societal Emotional processes are social expectation and their effect on the family.

According to Bowen, all families lie along a continuum and there are no types of family. He believes that optimal family development occurs when members are differentiated and maintain a healthy contact with each other. For Bowen, family problems are the result of emotional fusion. Typically the family member with the symptom is the one who is least differentiated. This member is unable to separate hisher thoughts from the families and absorbs the anxieties of the entire family.

Structural family theory emphasizes the need for parents to maintain a clear hierarchical position of authority. The origins of the theory can be traced to early 1960’s to Salvador Minuchin who formulated the theory and set guidelines for therapeutic techniques. The theory is built on three component structure, subsystems and boundaries.

Structure refers to the organized pattern in which families interact. Nicholas & Shwartz 2008aˆ¦p185. It describes the patterns of authority, communicating and interacting. Patterns develop as family transactions are repeated. In time these patterns become embedded and define roles and functions of family members creating predictability of the family interactions. These repetitions create expectations that establish rules in the family. Although alternatives are available the family rarely considers them and even in situations where patterns are dysfunctional, they are maintained. Dysfunction patterns give rise to a dysfunctional family structure. According to Minuchin, it is this dysfunctional structure which is the source of family problems.

According to structural family theory each family system has subsystems. These are sub groups within the family structure which exist to accomplish various family tasks. Subsystem may be determined along the lines of generation, gender, role and interests. For example there are spousal subsystem and child subsystems. Within the subsystem each family member plays a different role. When one subsystem intrudes into another causes structural difficulties and indicates that boundaries between subsystems are diffuse. Diffuse boundaries can result in enmeshment. On the other hand boundaries which are rigid result in disengagement. Clear boundaries blend characteristics which are both rigid and diffuse. When there are clear boundaries parents occupies a position of leadership in the family.

There are some aspects of the theoretical constructs of both Bower Family Systems Theory and Minuchins Structural Family Theory that are constant with my own world view. Like Bowen, I believe that our family’s history creates a template which shapes our values thoughts and experiences and many of these values thoughts and experiences are passed down through generations. However this template in my opinion is only one of the possible template which shape values thoughts and experiences as there are many factories other than one’s family of origin which influence who we become. Many persons can see the family pattern and make a conscious decision to build a life with different patterns. In this way the pattern in the family of origin is a powerful determinant but rather than been a template of what should be these patterns is template of what to avoid.

The concept of differentiation is cornerstone of Bowenian theory and I share Bowen’s view that lack of differentiation can be transmitted from generation to generation. Parental lack of differentiation may manifest itself in children who are either emotionally fused or rebellious leading to emotional cutoff from family of origin. Bowen however seems to emphasize the mother’s role in the process of passing anxiety from one generation to another. In my opinion he has pathologized the maternal role. Our social norms have prepared mothers to assume a nurturing role and this is not pathological. Bowen’s belief that there is a “chronic anxiety in all life that is both emotional and physical” Gladding 2009 p.235 is very different from my over world view. Generally the prominence given to anxiety as a defining force in all life is very foreign to my personal belief and system. My worldview starts from the opposite end. I see all of life filled with hope and choices. A life governed by anxiety is a life that chooses anxiety.

It is my belief that the structure, subsystems and boundaries are three essential components of families. Family structure sets out the pattern of authority and the lines of communication. I strongly believe that parents should be in charged in every family and the children should know this. Parents should present a united front to children and any disagreement they have between themselves should not be played out with the children. Thus is one way of ensuring that the parent and child subsystems remain separate. To ensure separation clear boundaries must be establish between the subsystems.

I believe that most family dysfunctions are the result of structural problems. Where there is no structure children develop chronic uncertainty which affects their overall functioning. Some children are at one extreme of severely maladaptive behavior while others are at the other extreme of over compensating behavior to gain favor. Along this entire continuum is the common thread of low self esteem. Keeping the family subsystems separated by clear boundaries in necessary for a healthy functioning family. Parents and children share their lives but parents’ relationship is maintained separate without threat from the relationship with children. These clear boundaries establish a hierarchical structure in which parents occupy a position of leadership.

I believe that in Jamaica family structure problems and single parent households is a kind of chicken and egg situation. As the single parent tries to compensate for the absent parent, child and parent subsystems are confused as boundaries become rigid, defused, enmeshed and even destroyed. Often in these households it is hard to tell who is in charge and this leads to a wide range of problems including hostility between children and parents incest and other types of abuse. Many of these children assume adult roles before they are ready which result in early (single) parenting to begin the cycle once more.

It is difficult for me to relate my own family to Bowerian family theory. Bowen’s emphasis on anxiety in the family of origin has no currency with me personally. Anxiety was not a part of my childhood. My parents were highly differentiated individuals who were independent thinkers. I am unable to see any triangulation and multigenerational transmission of anxiety. Among my nine siblings I do not even see birth order as an important consideration instead I see us accept each other as individuals with different abilities, talent, strengths and weaknesses. My family of origin was definitely ordered along the lines on Minuchin’s Structural Family Theory. There was a firm structure in place with strong subsystems and clear boundaries. We were nurtured and cared as children and guided into adulthood. We were encouraged and taught to be ourselves and the sibling all get along. My oldest sibling is 72 and my youngest is 49. We all agree that if our parent had any favorites among their children we cannot tell.

The Bowenian Theory in counseling and psychotherapy is applied to trace patterns of family problems with a view to identify emotional reactivity and triangulation. The genogram has been found to be a useful assessment tool to identify these two issues. The aim of the therapist is to de-triangulate individuals and help them to develop differentiation. Along the way parents become better equipped to manage their own anxieties and less likely to transmit these anxiety to their children.

Structural Family Theory underlines a therapy that seeks to reorganize families. The underlying assumption is that the family’s difficulties are as a result of the organizational structure.

The structural therapist assesses the presenting problems in four steps Firstly involve the whole family in the problem, secondly help them see how the family exchanges continue and support and perpetuate the problem. The therapist then exposes the impact of the past on the problem and finally explores options which the family members can take to relate in more productive ways that “will create shift in the family structure and help resolve the presenting complaint” (Nicholas and Schuartz 2009 p.196).

Bowen and Minuchin had very different views of the source of dysfunction in individuals but both agreed that the dominant force in our lives is located in our families. Therapies based on this theoretical framework is directed at changing the organization of the family. When this is done then the functioning of the individual will be altered. This is not a change on the present individual only , but the whole family changes. In this way the individual change has a greater likelihood of remaining a permanent one.

EXPLAIN THE MAIN WAYS IN WHICH THE CONCEPT OF THE FAMILY HAS CHANGED OVER TIME AND ACROSS CULTURES

Family is regarded as a major social institution by many sociologists; it is a place where much of a person’s social activities occur. The concept of the family is considered as a social unit or a group of kin connected by blood, marriage or adoption, living in the same residence and can be described as nuclear (a family structure made of parents and their children) or extended (a family structure made up of three generations for example grandparents, parents and children). The extended family is associated with the pre- industrial society; parents were mainly responsible for the well-being and education of their children. This type of family unit was the main source of production and due to extended kinship; families used to own for example large agricultural land or farms and would trade for other resources like clothes with other families.

The nuclear family on the other hand is considered by sociologists to be the typical type of family structure in an industrial society. Because it consists of fewer members than the extended family it makes it easier for them to relocate to industrial areas where their labour and skills are in popular demand. Graham Allan and Graham Crow argued that there was no longer a clear family cycle thorough which most people pass. They said, ‘individuals and families are now more able to exercise choice and personal volition over domestic and familial arrangements than previously, their option no longer being constrained by social convention and /or economic need. {Haralambos and Holborn (2004) pg 496}

The main ways in which the concept of the family has changed over time and across cultures, is evident in both pre- industrialisation and industrialisation societies. In the past fifty years, family life has become increasingly diverse. High earnings and less responsibility to other family members have attracted extended families to split up. Families in the pre-industrial society had an important economic function in society but have lost its purpose as a production unit.

However in the industrial society economic progress is taking place but the concept of the family is going through significant changes in its structure. A majority of women are employed, so fewer women are staying home to look after the family needs. Societal changes are believed to highly have contributed to the reduction of mainly the nuclear family. Divorce rates are very high across all cultures and a replacement of lone-parent, childless, remarried, homosexual, foster and adoptive families have been established. Breaking down of marriages, and anti-social behaviour is increasingly destroying families. People are increasingly cohabiting, in various industrial nations. Family life is no longer a picture of harmony and happiness. Socialists say that greater individualism with modern society has also had its contribution to the changes of the family structure.

The transformation that is taking place in the traditional concept of family in diverse cultures is a big problem and some psychologists argue that it needs to be addressed, for any hope of retaining the family institution, especially the nuclear family. According to Murdock, “the nuclear family is the basic form of family. He sees all other family forms as extensions of the nuclear family”. {Harlambros M. & Langley P. (2003) page 74}. As people from different cultures increasingly search for greener pastures, immigrating has been inevitable. Adopted cultural backgrounds and loosing sense of identity has occurred across cultures.

Differences in the lifestyle of different ethnic origins and different religious beliefs, has helped some cultures to preserve the extended family unit. In Arab countries, family is still highly preserved due to strong religious beliefs. Many families still live under the same house hold and own large shop businesses, same as in India and Japan.

Bibliography

Harlambros M. & Langley P. (2003) Sociology in focus

Haralambos and Holborn (2004) pg 496 Sociology Themes and Perspectives HarperCollin Publishers

http://www.ncsociology.org/sociationtoday/v22/family.htm

Family contribution to social stability

Social stability entails state of completeness, where life is balanced in terms of good wages, lifestyle, amenities, freedom and prosperity. The family as an institution can contribute highly into this state of life through several ways. Programs such as family-life ambassadors can help insert skills into families, in an attempt to cultivate social stability (Wardle, 2002). Other programs such as family-life champions or organized family talks, resource speakers and school family education may assist in instilling vital skills needed in establishing social stability in families. For instance, school family education, may assist parents to acquire reliable skills in family running.

Another way that families have contributed to social stability is by holding religious values with high esteem. As such people are equipped with Godly values which promote social stability by enhancing disciplinary virtues drawn from religious living. For example, an individual positive behavior is enhanced by the religious doctrines or even life virtues. Similarly, family strength and unity is highly upheld. Under British lifestyle, religious based individuals most probably have stable marriages, report low levels of divorce and singlehood (Melin & Blom, 2000). This will instigate marriage satisfaction, hence high marital stability and low poverty levels are witnessed. Morality and sound thinking is highly promoted by religious beliefs, reducing deviant behaviors such as suicide, drug abuse, teenage pregnancies and sexual permissiveness, among others.

A family as an institution in the society provides a reliable home for growing children. It provides shelter, food, clothing and other social needs. When this is done, the possibility of children growing to be undisciplined is low, since they have a place to belong to and have almost everything that they require. For instance, in the case of street children, they will tend to engage in criminal activities such as smuggling and robbery among others, and this may lead to social instability .Such children need to be offered a place to belong to through proper care by possibly adoption procedures. For example, In Britain family stability has reported continuous decline such that children and adults are always faced with fractured or dysfunctional families thus instigating the possibility if having unstable society. About 15% of all babies born in conservative culture in Britain are brought-up with no resident father (Wardle, 2002). In this case, parenting education and relationship programs may assist in social stability .Other approaches may include raising UK’s care incentives in a bid to motivate the child caretakers to positively bring-up the children in socially acceptable ways.

If such positive upbringing fails, the parentless children are likely into various social evils thus destabilizing social stability. In addition, if the government is to support these children a lot of funds may be expended in rehabilitation centers in stead of instituting social development programs beneficial in stabilizing the wellbeing of the entire society. Economically, the wealth of a country is highly dependant on the family, in terms of the human capital (Melin & Blom, 2000). Strength of the economy highly depends on family stability because of the social ethical basis taught through social virtues and values. This way the entire family plays a vital role in stabilizing the society both economically as well as morally or socially.

In conclusion, family cohesiveness and moral strength is a high contributor to social stability. Positive parenting, various education programs at family level, role modeling and social awareness created at family level enhances social stability. A family also contributes to the labor mobility behaviors as a result of its effects on employment levels thus averting social instability associated with unemployment issues.

References

Melin, H & Blom, R. (2000). Streaming towards social stability. Vilnius, Lithuania: Lithuanian Institute of Philosophy and Sociology Press.

Wardle, L. (2002). Fundamental principles of family. London, UK: John-Wiley & Sons Publishers.

This paper will critically reflect on the ideologies of Margaret Thatcher’s New Right and the New Labour Third way in relation to familiy and its perceieved composition. During this period, the state developed a much broader focus of the welfare system by introducing polices in line with the functionalist thinking and attitudes of the day. The functionalists believed that social roles are culturally determined such as the difference in female and male roles – females more suited to caring, nuturing and providing emotional support and the male’s main role was one of being the breadwinner and providing financial support. Embracing these roles led to the smooth running of society (Dunn- Toroosian, 2009, p.76).

The welfare state can be defined as the process in which the Government takes the responsibility in paying for, and in some instances such as public healthcare, directly providing services for the people. Through measures such as unemployment insurance, old-age pensions, and other social-security processes, it further provides the social and economic security of its population (Jones et al, 2007, p.680). In addition, the responsibility of the state is to help families, who need support in bringing up their children, through providing a choice of services which promotes the welfare of children and family members (VSS, 2003, p.2).

The welfare state existed as far back as medieval times when the monasteries in particular looked after and supported the frail and elderly and educated the children. In the 16th century, parishes became legally responsible for looking after the poor and the people of the parish were expected to pay the cost (Bartholomew, 2004, p.29). The Poor Laws (traced back to 1536) were passed by the UK government to provide housing to the poor, homeless or disabled and in the 1800’s many workhouses’ were built to provide shelter, work, food and clothing to the destitute. In 1914 a new code was established which encouraged ‘more generous relief to be given to widows’ but ‘only to those of good habits who would bring up their families correctly’ and that workhouses should be used as a threat to ‘weaker’ women’ as it was already being argued that the welfare system was changing the morals of society (Walsh et al, 2000, p. 35;36).

The birth of the modern welfare state began in 1911 when Lloyd George and Churchill introduced the first compulsary national insurance scheme against unemployment (Bartholomew, 2004, p.51). In 1941 an enquiry was launched which put forward proposals on how to tidy up the state welfare and the Bevridge report was published in 1942. William Bevridge was disappointed in what the welfare state had become and his report focused on full employment continuing within a stable economy where both Conservative and Labour worked within similar ideologies at this time to keep this stability and growth (Harris, 2004, p. 289, Alcock et al, 2004, p. 246). He was a believer of the Keynes theory that suggested there was a need for Government intervention to manage the economy which would solve the problems of unemployment and this approach was adopted by the Labour party (Page, 1999, p.24). His report further outlined defeating the ‘five giants’: want, ignorance, disease, squalor and idleness and his main proposal was that a national security should be universal and be compulsary – ‘everyone would pay a flat-rate contributions to a national insurance scheme. Those who fell ill, became unemployable or reached retirement age would, in return, receive flat-rate payments’ (Bartholomew, 2004, p.57). His report made no special provision for lone parents at all, arguing that the reponsibility of supporting the unmarried mother would be her family’s although the typical family (which was that of a working man, his wife and children) lived almost in an income tax free state. At the time there was a married-couples allowance and tax allowances paid for each child which made the two parent family more likely to succeed (Bartholomew, 2004, p.255). Feminists saw his report as advocating that the womens place should be in the home serving her husband and children (VSS, 2003, p.19) as Beveridge stated that ‘married womens duties was the vital unpaid service which would ensure the adequate continuance of the British race and of the British ideals in the world’ (cited in Lewis et al, 2000, p.32).

The years following the Second World War radically influenced British society – the NHS was formed and various Acts such as the Education Act; Family Allowance Act and the National Assistance Act were introduced and National Insurance for the unemployed was developed (Walsh et al, 2000, p.46). The Labour government helped to create a more state orientated Britain which took place with the purchase of industries by the state however this focus changed when the Conservative government came into power in 1979 and the concentration shifted to privatisation (Burton, 1987, p.26). The Conservatives, led by Margaret Thatcher, faced the burdening situation of the government’s finances, rise in unemployment and NHS budget, and an increase in welfare bills. She proposed major changes in the thinking about social welfare and how it should be administered. In order to considerably reduce the increasing demand on the welfare state, which she believed to be expensive and morally weakening, she shifted the responsibility of welfare from the state to personal, private and voluntary organisations which would be more efficient and effective (Walsh et al, 2000, p.52).

During her period in office, Thatcher was influenced by her belief that the traditional nuclear family was the central force of modern life that contributed to decency, manners, respect for property and law and self-reliance, and was the best atmosphere for raising children (Jones et al, 2007, p.156). The norms and values of society began to break down in the 60’s and 70’s when a more tolerant society began to emerge. Changes to social policies such as divorce legislation (Divorce Reform Act, 1969) and generous welfare benefits were blamed for society and values deteriorating and this had caused an increase in irregular families and household types (Douglas, 1990, p.412). Thatcher and the New Right believed that the only way social problems would end would be if the ‘golden age’ returned in which people lived in conventional family units, women stayed at home, divorce was not considered, benefits for lone parents were low and tax allowance for children were paid out (Douglas, 1999, p.414). They further argued that the traditional values’ of women’s roles and the tradition of marriage was important to hold society together (Jones, 2007, p.156). New Right thinking, although influential in the 80’s during the Thatcher Government is not new and has been around since the 17th and 18th century. The belief was that the government should not intercede in people’s lives and freedom, and that any intervention would cause social problems to become worse rather than improving them. The New Right also differentiated between people who were thought to be deserving of help and welfare services (poor through no fault of their own) and those who were unemployed, lazy and wasted money who should not receive welfare and support (Page et al, 1999, p.23; 78).

Although Thatcher was keen to encourage and maintain the roles and responsibilities of the traditional family unit for personal security, emotional satisfaction and care for family members, it became difficult due to changes in society and law, which allowed women more freedom. Abortions were legalised and the contraceptive pill became available for free. In addition several Acts were introduced which gave women the opportunity to be more equal to men such as the Sex Discrimination Act (1975), Equal Pay Act (1970) and the Equal Opportunities Act (1995). Furthermore the marketization of the economy; deregulation and privatisation of labour markets and spreading owner occupation in an unstable housing market all played their part in the family breakdown and women’s access to, and need for, jobs (Chadwick et al, 2003, p.8). As women’s lives began to change, they moved away from their natural role of housewife and mother as divorce rates climbed and more lone-parent families became the norm. The idea of family responsibility and informal care by the existing family was formally made public but in reality, it became more difficult for family members to support each other. The belief was that the normal nuclear family should be a family of two heterosexual adults, who were married and in a sexual relationship, producing children and instilling traditional moral values in them. Therefore the breakdown of the family and specifically the increase in lone parent families and illegitimacy were recognized as the cause of the increase in crime, unemployment, delinquency, educational underachievement and child poverty (Douglas, 1999, p.412; 413). Charles Murray whose New Right ideas greatly influenced Thatcher and Conservative thinking believed that society in the 1960’s had done nothing to improve the life of the poor but instead had caused it to be worse by creating an ‘underclass’. Despite any evidence, he further argued that the welfare programmes had produced a rise in unemployment, crime and illegitimacy in the American ‘underclass’ and defiantly stated that ‘people were not owed a decent standard of living, it was something they had to work for’ (Page et al, 1999, p.79). Murray particularly blamed the children of lone parent families for social problems as he argued that the lack of both role models would increase their chance of living in poverty, becoming dependent on drugs, alcohol and benefits and therefore would increase the chance of them resorting to crime. He further stated that the welfare state encouraged dependency and a break from traditional values and argued that large benefits led to families not working, but remaining dependant on state benefits (Page et al, 1999, p.304; 78). Thatcher therefore believed that the only way to reduce poverty was by ending the benefit culture, removing this dependency and encouraging self-reliance. She would have preferred mothers not to work, as their responsibility was to be at home to care for and protect their children. More over it would have been desirable if there were no single mothers claiming income support. Dunn – Toroosian (2009, p.74) argues that the terms ‘legitimate and illegitimate referring to children born in or out of wedlock are old fashioned, value laden terms that reflect societies attitude to marriage and childbearing which reinforce the New Right view and the Conservative pro-family movement, derived from Christian morality’.

Thatcher addressed the increase in welfare costs by cutting social expenditure, withdrawing services and introducing a new form of means tested support, which she believed targeted those in real need. She reduced the level of benefits and replaced certain benefits with others, which meant some people lost all or some of their benefits. Furthermore child benefit was not increased in line with inflation. Discretionary payments for people in deprivation were completely removed and the Social Fund introduced to help struggling people was mostly given out in the form of loans and not grants. The effect of these changes left many people and families who were receiving benefits a lot poorer.

It is however argued (Pascall, 2002) that these changes to social policy left women in a stronger position by the end of the Conservative era due to improved access to work and enabled lone mothers to do paid work which made women less dependant within families. Although many of the changes happened more because of the women’s movement than to Thatcherism, Thatcherite policies played a part in the process. However regardless of the woman’s new position, the New Right’s ideology of the nuclear family is not all it is made out to be. Functionalist in particular ignored the potential harmful effects of family life and inequalities of domestic life. Nuclear families are very stereotypical and discriminatory (other family types are not families and therefore inadequate), patriarchal (there is an unequal distribution of power and status as it is male dominant and women are exploited) and not inclusive (gay relationships, reconstituted families, unmarried parents and especially lone parents are all ignored). There was no discussion or argument about whether the nuclear family was the only one that could carry out the vital functions of the family or whether the role of nurturing children could possibly be carried out by other family types such as lone parents or two women/ men. In addition nuclear families, as with all other types of families, can be equally unfavourable especially if there is domestic abuse and violence or child and drug abuse. Women may have gained more rights to be considered equal to men but in most circumstances the man has remained the breadwinner and women were still considered to undertake the emotional role of the domestics, housewife, mother and carer. Women often work part time or flexible hours in order to allow them to continue to fulfil their childcare and household responsibilities (Dunn-Toroosin, 2009, p.63). In addition, because of the changes in the economic, demographic, political and cultural trends in the industrialised world, people’s work and home lives had changed. Although great change had taken place, it seemed that other areas of society such as government, religion and business had not yet caught up with the new reality.

The Labour Party led by Tony Blair came into power after a landslide victory in 1997 and one of his main agendas was welfare reform. Although he continued with many of the Conservatives themes and stated ‘that the welfare state must offer a hand-up rather than a hand-out'(Page, 1999, p.306), he wanted people on benefits to pull their weight with his ‘rights and responsibilities’ approach. However, in his attempt to break away from Thatherism, the new government adopted the ‘Third Way’ which was about promoting opportunity instead of dependance, with a welfare state providing for the mass of the people, but in new ways to fit the modern world (DSS, 1998b, p.19). Although New Labour accepted that the government had a duty to provide appropriate training and education, Blair wanted certain people receiving benefits (including single parents) to be encouraged into work and training rather than continuing to receive benefits (Page, 1999, p.309). Blair stressed the importance of individuals being socially independent, however he also emphasised the importance and morals of families arguing that ‘the breakup of community in turn is consequent on the breakdown in family life’ (Lavalette et al, 1999, online). Blair promised that his policies would modernise and renew Britain however the ideas that they were based upon were hardly new. He frequently discussed his Christian beliefs and values and how they influenced his policies – New Labour very much wanted to return to ‘family values’ (Lavalette et al, 1999, online). Frank Field (Labour minister for welfare reform, 1998) adopted many of the views of Charles Murray and he again highlighted the role of divorce, family breakdown and illegitimacy as the main contributors of the ‘underclass’ and that welfare should ‘openly reward good behaviour and enhance those roles which the country values’ (cited in Lavalette, 1999, online). Labour used social welfare policy to assert a new moral agenda and similarly to the policies of the New Right focused on the problem of teenage pregnancy, single mothers and the one parent family which resulted in benefits being cut (Page, 1999, p.129). The New Deal (introduced in 1998) was concerned with moving people off benefits into work through better access to training and subsidies being offered to employers who employ young people who had been out of work for six months. Furthermore the New Deal for Lone Parents did not apply to lone parents with younger children and it did not consider how difficult it was for them in actually taking up paid work (Hills, 1998, p.26). The poor working class families were told that they would be held responsible for any crimes their children committed as New Labour focussed on strengthening families and communities and also shaping the ‘institution in which children are brought up, on the basis of enduring values – justice for all, responsibilty from all’ (Chadwick, 2003, p.32). Benefit recipients were told that work is their ‘salvation’, even if it meant working for benefits, and being unemployed was not an option. Another strategy on his agenda was to tackle ‘social exclusion’ – groups of the poor who lacked the income and the opportunities to access social establishments which again included young single mothers. New Labour saw paid work as the best way to improve the position of the socially excluded rather than creating dependancy on welfare payments and services (Page, 1999, p.307). Ironically his agenda led to increasing levels of unemployment and a greater divide between rich and poor. It is a continuation of a number of themes that have been central to British Government policy for the last 30 years and is based on a deeply conservative moral agenda where the poor working class is increasingly identified as a problem that must be forced to accept the values of modern capitalism.

Both New Right and New Labour attitudes and personal belief in how the family does work and should work has significantly impacted and influenced the Governments decision on social policy. However Page (1999, p.15) argues that social policy has always been shaped and influenced by social factors such as gender, class and age. This has in turn had consequences for women in family and public life. The effect of encouraging traditional family structures and the ‘labelling’ of single parents has had both psychological and physical effects on families and such stigma often shapes and overshadows life. There was no evidence that proved the nuclear family was better than other family units or that lone parents were unsuitable yet this influenced policies. Furthermore, it was seen as a life style choice for single parents to be on benefits but benefits offer little chance for lone parents (and/or their children) to get out of the poverty cycle and it needs to be recognised that poverty strips dignity and makes a person powerless.

Although the solution was to blame individuals and therefore change and introduce new policies and benefits, it would have been better to deal with the inequality and the lack of choices faced by some women. Providing more jobs and opportunities with better pay would have enabled women and their families to claw their way out of poverty and their reliance on welfare. Although the increase in capitalism meant progress for women as it enabled them to enter the workforce, they still remained unequal as they continued to bear the burden of the family role. Childcare facilities which could have allowed women to go back to work were scarce due to the lack of Thatcher’s commitment to spend public money on expanding childcare facilities (Douglas, 1999, p.413). Whilst much has been achieved, women are still at a definite disadvantage compared to men and therefore remain economically dependant. The aim of state welfare was to remove divisions in society, political and class inequality however because of the attitudes of the changing political powers which influenced the welfare state, the effect has been to make those divisions more visible: lone parents and the ‘underclass’ who have little choice than to live in impoverished environments where there is overcrowding and crime

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