THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Over a quarter of the woman population in the district could not engage in a job of their choice due to the disinterest of their partner or other family members, revealed ‘Pennadayalangal’ , a survey-based study conducted by the district office of the Economics and Statistics department. While 10.34% could not opt for their desired job due to their partner’s objection, other family members dampened the hopes of 16.85% of females. The study stated that the traditional ‘caregiver role’ imposed on women stood in the way of a majority of them from doing remunerative jobs.
A total of 41.55% of women could not engage in remunerative jobs due to their responsibility to take care of children and the elderly and also to do household chores, while 12.53% of the unemployed respondents said they could not find a job as per their educational qualifications.
As many as 10.53% of women could not go to work due to poor health and 61.12% of the unemployed women said they wished to do remunerative jobs.
Unemployed people constituted 49% of the total woman population and 26.55% of them had a degree, including professional and technical degrees, or post-graduation.
The survey based on the systematic random sampling method covered a total of 81,000 women above the age of 18. An equal number of respondents were selected from all local self-government institutions in the district. The study report called for more women-friendly programmes by local self-government institutions.
Physical and mental issues of women should be considered while devising programmes for them.
Awareness should be created on shared responsibility for family members in household chores. Another important recommendation was to provide employment opportunities for educated women.
“The report is helpful for a proper understanding of the status of women in the district. It throws light into their social and economic conditions and would be useful for devising projects to make the district more women-friendly,” said Anish Kumar B, deputy director of the Economics and Statistics Department.
Unfriendly workplace
Among the employed women, 88.43% spent their income on the day-to-day expenses of their family. Only 27% of the women had neat and secure toilets. A proper sanitary napkin disposal facility was available at the workplace for only 12% of respondents.
Assets and finance
A total of 55.12% of the respondents owned land, 43.01% owned a house and 7.81% had a vehicle. As many as 62.94% of the respondents owned a smartphone, while 61% of the women were not doing electronic money transactions and 11.86% of them were not even aware of it. Over half of the women who did electronic money transactions shared their passwords with family and 76.91% of women had full knowledge of all investments, assets and liabilities of their husband. A total of 13.62% were unaware and 9.46% had partial knowledge of the same.
Social media
As many as 65.71% of the women had a WhatsApp account. Facebook and Instagram users were 33.44% and 10.66%, respectively. A total of 1.34% played video games, 0.68% used dating apps, 41.2% had social media accounts and 51.35% of them shared their password with family members.
Health, food
A total of 70.11% of the women sought treatment in the preliminary stage of sickness and 72.23% of the women had the opportunity to have food in time, 26.86% were able to have food occasionally and 0.91% did not take it in time. As many as 52.23% of women had the freedom to cook their preferred food, 45.53% could do it occasionally and 2.17% did not have the privilege. A total of 69.4% had sufficient rest, 28.85 got rest occasionally and 1.72% lacked proper rest. Only 63.60% of the women took medicines on time. As many as 8.41% of the women faced restrictions during menstruation and 2.14% among them still faced it. Only 63.11% of the respondents used sanitary pads, 2.04% menstrual cups and 23.76% used clothes.
Sexual abuse
As many as 39.70% of the women who faced sexual abuse had bitter experiences from their husbands, 17.98% from their own family members or neighbours and 7.04% at workplaces.