European Journal of Developing Country Studies, Vol.8 2010 ISSN(paper)2668-3385 ISSN(online)2668-3687 www.BellPress.

org

RURAL WOMENS CONTRIBUTION IN FAMILY BUDGET: A CASE STUDY OF DISTRICT LAYYAH

Ms. Shakila Bano M.Phil Economics, B.Z. university, Multan Muhammad Zahir Faridi Assistant professor of economics, B. Z. University, Multan, Pakistan Furrukh Bashir (corresponding author) Ph.D Scholar of Economics, University of the Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan. INTRODUCTION Most of the rural areas in Pakistan are economically depressed and rural women are, in fact, one of the poorest populations in Pakistan because rural women earn substantially less than rural men. The development of a rural area in developing countries is of considerable interest among many scholars. Many of the studies however have focused on the urban informal sector. Only few studies have focused on the role of women in the contribution of household budget in rural areas. The aim of this work is to investigate rural women's contribution in economic activities, and how they contribute to the household economy. In Pakistan, female labour force participation is very low. Womens fragile social status is a real obstacle to the pivot role she plays in human and economic development. So there is a need to give the equal access of women and men to education, skills, and improvement of professional aptitudes. The incidence of poverty among women is higher than men. Women are largely neglected in the social, economic, political and legal spheres. Womens access to money-earning activities is an important means to improve their position (Polachek and Robst, 1997). Childrens well being, particularly of daughters is positively affected by the mothers access to income-generating opportunities (Thomas, 1990; Haddad and Haddinot, 1995). How much women are contributing in their households incomes and GDP is still unexplored, along with determinants of their contribution. Informal sector employment is generally a larger source of employment for women than for men in the developing world. Most informal workers are deprived of secure work, workers benefits and social protection. The factors such as: educational, technical employment opportunities and vocational opportunities availed by women, wage rate, availability of credit, state of technology in the country and its implementation and cultural attitudes towards working women greatly affect the contribution of women in economic activity. Socioeconomic background of working women is the main determinant of female labour force participation at household level. Husbands employment status also affects their contribution. Womens productive work and level of development are positively related. The participation of women has critical importance in determining the rates of savings, investment and production. Empirical evidences suggest that women are the most disadvantaged creature in society. The provision of sufficient opportunities to female workers is associated to improve their productivity and their children enjoy more income by achieving higher educational level, low mortality rates and better health and they seem to be valued within the household. The issue of womans recognition as a productive member is the issue of recent times and the development of women is the issue of concern to Government. So there is a need of accurate data about women workers. This study would discuss certain factors that are responsible for womens contribution in household budget. The rest of the paper is organized as follows: section II describes the review of literature. Section III discusses the data and methodological issues. Results are produced in section IV, while conclusions and policy recommendations are given in section V. II. Literature Review The purpose of this chapter is to review some studies related to womens contribution in economic activities and female labor force participation. Bell (1974) estimated the contribution of working women in family income. The study found that median income of the families who held some employment had income 23 percent higher than in families with nonworking wives. Employed women contributed only 16 percent of total family. The study concluded that professional and managerial workers contributed more than the service workers.

14

European Journal of Developing Country Studies, Vol.8 2010 ISSN(paper)2668-3385 ISSN(online)2668-3687 www.BellPress.org
Cancian et al. (1991a) focused on changes in the level and distribution of earnings of men and women and their impacts on the distribution of family income among married couples, and among all households. The wives income increases substantially due to increase in the working married women and due to increase in the weakly income. The study concluded that without wives earnings, 9.2 percent of families would have been below the poverty line, and 26.4 percent would have income between one and two times of the poverty line. Nasreen et al. (1994) analyzed the role of rural women in decision making in various family affairs. Samples were drawn randomly. The chi square test was used. The study concluded that a large majority of the respondents believed that their husbands play a dominant role in making important family decisions concerning family affairs and they were satisfied with their position as housewives. The study concluded that education, caste, income, family type (nuclear or joint) and age of the respondents had no significant association with the decision making process in family affairs. A large majority of the respondents agreed that they were satisfied with their position as housewives. Of 115 respondents, only eight were found to be the working ladies. Azid, et al. (2001) estimated the degree of female participation in cottage industry of Pakistan by collected the primary set of data. The study analyzed the economic behavior of female workers involved in the business of embroidery in Multan. The study concluded that female members were engaged in economic activity in informal labor market due to poverty. The study concluded that number of children less than 5 years of age distance from market and Purdah played a significant role in the participation of female in work. Cameron et al. (2001) estimated the determinants of married women in five countries, Philpines, Korea, Sirilanka, and Thialand by using Probit model. The results showed that determinants of women labor force in Asia vary across countries. Womans education was positively related with the probability of working. In Korea, only 3 percent of women were likely to participate in economic activities, but the earned income of women as percentage of men was high in Korea. But in Philippines, women were 25 percent more likely to participate in economic activities. The study indicated that although in Korea, women got high wage rate, yet they participated less in economic activities. This showed the fact that households bargaining power is important in determining womens labor force participation in Asian countries. Coady et al. (2001) analyzed the effects of Community program on participation of women in China by using the probit regression model. Multivariate regression Technique was used to see the effect of program on income level of participants and non participants. The results indicated that program increased total household income by 27 percent in treatment villages and the probability of participation by 25 percent. The probability to join the labor market and education had positive relationship. Naqvi and Shahnaz (2002) examined the effects of various demographic, socioeconomic and human capitals related factors on women participation in economic activities by using multi logit and probit models on data by Pakistan Integrated Household Survey 1998-99. The results indicated that women who were older, better educated, head of the household, or come from smaller, better off urban families were more empowered to take employment decisions on their own. The study concluded that women living in nuclear families and in rural areas were less likely to participate in the economic activities. Sultana and Kamal (2002) estimated the impact of Open and Distance Learning to empower rural women in Bangladesh. The study concluded that most of the rural poor women were not involved in marketable production activities due to illiteracy and lack of access to modern technology. The study concluded that the attitude, skill and knowledge level of the rural poor women, ability to prepare budget, ability to plan, ability to collect business-related information, ability to open network, ability to assess right and wrong of the rural women were enhanced after the training and they were able to contribute more in their family budget. Khan et al. (2005) investigated the contribution of women and children involved in home-based work in family income by using the primary set of data. They also analyzed the impact of increased earnings of women on household nutrition, health and education by using Binary logistic model. Household size was positively and significantly related with the decision of household to engage in home based work, while the living condition index had shown a negative significant relationship with the decision of household to engage in home based work. Khan and Khan (2006) estimated how much women were struggling for family survival in urban informal sector by applying the OLS model on 937 observations. It was found that women as head of household, womens education, and ownership of assets by woman, family size, household poverty, womens marital status (married women), women living in nuclear families and loan availed by the household had positive effect on contribution of women in their household budget. The study concluded that due to increase in the age of the woman, first of all the contribution increases and then decreases. Married women and women living in nuclear families contributed more to household budget. However, number of adult males in the household had decreased the volume of contribution of

15

European Journal of Developing Country Studies, Vol.8 2010 ISSN(paper)2668-3385 ISSN(online)2668-3687 www.BellPress.org
woman. The husbands employment status would be a critical variable for a womans contribution in household budget. Khan and Khan (2007) highlighted the characteristics of informally employed women and their contribution in household budget by applying the OLS model. The results showed that womans education, women as head of household, ownership of assets by women had positive effect on their contribution. The study concluded that in the informal employment, married women contributed more towards family budget. The age of the woman had a non linear effect on their contribution. Khan and Khan (2009) highlighted the factors that influence the decision of married women to participate in labor force activities by applying the Probit model on 3911 observations. The study concluded that womens age, household poverty, family size, women as head of the household, womens education, number of girls (5-15 years), number of daughters over 15 years of age, husbands unemployment and rural locality had a significant positive affect on labor force participation of married women. Ownership of assets by the household, households per capita income, nuclear family status of household, number of infants, number of sons over 15 years of age, and husbands education negatively affect labor force participation of married women. Poverty was found to be the major determinant of the labor force participation of married women. Poverty was found to be the major determinant of the labor force participation of married women. The study concluded that increasing the income and productivity of working mothers had trickle down effects on the reduction of household poverty. Harkness (2010) analyzed the contribution of womens employment and earnings to household income inequality. The source of the data was Luxembourg Income Survey (LIS) for 17 industrialized countries with countries grouped into three regime types according to Esping-Andersons (1990) welfare state typology. The study concluded that for all countries, raising female Employment and earning, and reducing employment inequality between women would had a substantial impact on reducing household income inequality. The female earnings were an important factor in reducing household income inequality in all countries. Among couples, female earnings shares were largest in Denmark (34%). Pay was much more unevenly distributed for wives than husbands everywhere. III. DATA, METHODOLOGY AND SELECTION OF VARIABLES A. Profile of the Study Area and collection of data The area of our study is Layyah. Layyah was founded in 1550 A.D by Kmal Khan Mirani Baloch. There are three Tehsils of Layyah namely: Layyah, Choubara and Karor Lal Esan. The famous towns of district Layyah are Fateh Pur, Chock Azam and Kot Sultan. The area of district Layyah is 6291 km. Sariaki is the local language of district Layyah, while Urdu and English are just the medium of education. Major crops of Layyah are wheat, gram, cotton, and sugarcane. The women in the villages are highly involved in cultivation, harvesting, sowing of seeds, cotton picking, and rearing of animals. Agriculture sector is the main source of their livelihood. The women in these areas are very hardworking but they are getting very low wages. Even children in these areas are doing different tasks of child labor. Five villages of Layyah are selected namely Khokhar Abad, Kot Sultan, Sirai, Jaman Shah, and Ladhiana. These five villages of district Layyah are situated at North, East, West, South and center of the city. B. Model Specification Different researchers have used different models to estimate the contribution of women in their family budget. For example, Mehrotra and Biggeri (2002), Khan and Khan (2006), and Khan and Khan (2007) have used the OLS technique to see the effect of various factors on the womens contribution to their family budget. We have also used the OLS model to determine the contribution of rural women in their family budget. The following multiple regression model is: Y= + 1X1 + 2 X2 + . + kXk + ui The coefficients 1 k are called partial regression coefficients. We have made three models. Our first model explains how the contribution of rural woman is affected by the core variables such as: age of the woman, family size, number of children, poverty status etc. WCB = f [AGEW,AGSQ,FSIZ,NCHI.MARD,FST,OWRP,FTMI, WMEX, WMWA, REDU,DRAT,POVS,HDMI,WHOH] (1) In our second model, some new important variables such as work experience of the women, education of the women, number of earners in the family, children between different age groups etc. are included. WCB=f[WEXP,EDUW,EXSQ,NEAR,WMWA,WMEX,HWHO,DRAT,POVS, REDU, CHAA,CHAB,CHAC,FST,OWRP,FTMI,WORH,WHOH] ..(2)

16

European Journal of Developing Country Studies, Vol.8 2010 ISSN(paper)2668-3385 ISSN(online)2668-3687 www.BellPress.org
Our third model explains how various education levels of females affects their contribution in family budget. The functional form of the model is: WCB=[FSIZ,MARD,NCHI,FST,NEAR,POVS,OWRP,REDU,WMWA, WMEX,FTMIPEDU,SEDU, BEDU,HED,WRKS,WSPN,WHOH] .. C. Description of the Variables The description of the variables is as follow. Variables Definitions Dependent variable WCB (woman contribution to family budget) Ratio of woman income to total family income Independent variables AGEW (womans age) Her age in years AGSQ (womans age square) Square of womans age FSIZ(family size) Number of family members NCHI(number of children) Total number of children MARD (marital status) If she is married ,0 otherwise FST (family set up) If nuclear , 0 otherwise OWRP(outside work permission) If she is permitted to work outside, 0 otherwise FTMI (familys total monthly income) Familys total monthly income in rupees WMEX (womans monthly expenditures) Amount of money which she spends on herself WMWA (womans monthly wage ) Womans monthly wage in rupees REDU ( restrictions to achieve education) If restrictions to achieve education, 0otherwise Ratio of number of dependents in the family to DRAT (Dependency ratio) total members of the family The people living below the poverty line are considered poor, 0otherwise, where poverty POVS (poverty status) line is 1276 HDMI (Heads monthly income) Monthly income of head of household in rupees If head of household is woman, 0otherwise WHOH (woman as head of household) WEXP(work experience) Womans work experience ( in years) EXSQ (experience square) Square of womans work experience) NEAR(number of earners) Total numbers of earners in the family EDUW (womans education) Womans education in completed years HWHO (husbands working hours) Working hours of husband If female has children between the age of zero CHAA (category A for child age) and three years, 0 otherwise If female has children between the age of four CHAB(category B for child age) to seven years If female has children between the age of seven CHAC (category C for child age) to eleven years WORH (working hours) Womans working hours If Woman have education between 0 and 5 PEDU (primary education) years, 0 otherwise. If Woman have education between 5 and 12 SEDU (secondary education) years 0 otherwise. If Woman have education between 12 to 14 BEDU years 0 otherwise If Woman have education between 14 years and HED (Higher education) up to M.Phil, 0 otherwise. WRKS ( work satisfaction) If she is satisfied from her work, 0 otherwise If she can spend most part of her income on WSPN (womans spending on herself) herself , 0 otherwise After the data is collected, it is organized to put it into the computer to obtain the results. OLS model was applied to get the results by using the E-Views.

17

European Journal of Developing Country Studies, Vol.8 2010 ISSN(paper)2668-3385 ISSN(online)2668-3687 www.BellPress.org
IV. RURAL WOMEN CONTRIBUTION IN FAMILY BUDGET: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Estimation of the OLS Models (i). Econometrics Estimates of the OLS Model 1 Table 1 explains the results of the OLS model 1 of rural women contribution in family budget. The results show the estimated coefficients and their standard errors. The two tailed t statistics has been applied. 1%, 5 %, and 10 % level of significance are used. The intercept term is negative and insignificant which shows that intercept value is less valued. The intercept shows the average effect of the all omitted variables which affect the dependent variable. Age of the woman has a positive relationship with the contribution of women in family budget, while the coefficient of AGSQ (age square) is negative and is significant. Increase in age increases the family size, awareness and experience. Older women have also more and relaxed social contacts as compared to younger women. Our results are consistent with Naqvi and Shahnaz (2002), La Ferrrara (2002), Khan and Khan (2006), Khan and Khan (2007), and Khan and Khan (2009). Our results are also consistent with the life cycle hypothesis presented by Ando and Modigilani (1963). The variable family size has negative relationship with the contribution of woman in family budget larger family size increases the labor supply. So due to surplus labor supply, financial status of the family increases and there is less need for the woman to contribute in family budget. In our analysis, family size has no significant relationship with the contribution of women in economic activities. This shows the fact that in rural areas; contribution of woman doesnt depend upon whether the family size is large or small. It is found during the survey that some women, having larger family size or smaller family size, are contributing towards their family budget. So the contribution of rural women in their family budget depends upon various other factors. Our results match with the findings of (Lokshin et al. (2000): Coady (2001). The coefficient of number of children is negative and insignificant. The effect of the number of the children on the contribution of women depends upon the age of the children and also on the activities of the children. For infants, the explanation may be that women are involved in child caring activities so that their contribution remains low because the birth child reduces time for economic activities and increases the work load at home (see also, Kozel and Alderman 1989, 1990). For school age children, the contribution of rural women in family budget and the number of children is negatively related because the income of woman is substituted by childrens income as the children between these ages are usually involved in economic activities. Our results are consistent with Levine and Moock (1984), Alderman and Chistie (1991), Duncan et al. (1993). The insignificant results show that number of children is not very important to determine the contribution of woman in family budget because the area where we have collected data is purely rural. And the people in rural areas doesnt care that woman is over burdened. Due to poverty, women in rural areas are highly involved both in child caring and economic activities. But for rich families, the opposite is true. Another variable is marital status which affects the contribution of women. In our study, the coefficient of MARD is negative and insignificant. This result shows that if the marital status increases by one unit, contribution of woman in family budget decreases by .049453 rupees. Our results are consistent with the findings of Naqvi and Shahnaz (2002). Due to increasing responsibilities of married women, they are less likely to contribute in economic activities. The insignificant results show that in rural area under study married as well as single women are contributing in economic activities, so marital status is less important for rural women to participate in economic activities. Another variable which affects the contribution of women in their family budget is family set up. Women belonging to nuclear families contribute more as the coefficient of FST is positive and insignificant. The reason is interpreted in this sense that women living in joint family system face different constraints imposed by her in laws because usually in this type of family, mother in law has the authority in decision making regarding income, employment and expenditures. So womens decision to participate in economic activities is strongly affected by their coresidents. Earning members in the family are also more in combined family system, so women contribute less. On the other hand, in nuclear family system; husband is the only source of income, so woman contributes more. Our findings are consistent with the findings of Sather and Desai (1996). In our analysis, we find heterogeneous characteristics. So family set up has no any significant relationship with the contribution of rural women in household budget. The other important variable is outside work permission which affects the contribution of women. Women that are permitted to work outside the home contribute more as compared to women who have no permission to go outside the home for work. The significant results show that permission to women to work outside is the main factor which increases the contribution of women in family budget because now they can easily go to cities for work and earn high wages.

18

European Journal of Developing Country Studies, Vol.8 2010 ISSN(paper)2668-3385 ISSN(online)2668-3687 www.BellPress.org
The coefficients of FTMI and WMEX are negative and insignificant. It means that due to increase in familys total monthly income, contribution of women in family budget decreases because families having more income need less contribution of women in economic activities. Rich families dont force women to participate in economic activities. But the coefficient of womens monthly expenditures doesnt make sense. Theoretically, women having more expenditure should contribute more. Our results are inconsistent with the theory. Our results show that women having more monthly expenditures contribute less. This depends upon family structure. As woman belonging to rich families spend more income on herself because she has good standard of living and at the same time she has no need to participate in economic activities because the jobs in rural areas are of low standard and husbands income is enough for survival of the family. On the other hand, the women belonging to poor families have less income to spend on theirselves; they usually contribute more in income earning activities for the survival of their family. In our analysis, these two variables are not important to affect the contribution of rural women. Womans monthly wage has a positive effect on the contribution of woman. The coefficient of WMWA is positive and highly significant. This is the fact that woman earning more monthly wage rate are able to contribute more in family budget. This is the very important variable which affects the contribution of women in family budget. The coefficient shows that if the womans monthly wage increases by one rupee, the contribution of woman in family budget increases by 1.73 rupees, holding the effect of other variables constant. Restrictions to achieve education are the main cause of low earning and similarly womens contribution decreases. Naqvi and Shahnaz (2002) estimated that more educated women are more likely to participate in labor market. Sackey (2005) estimated that female education exerted a positive impact on female labor market decision. The coefficient of REDU shows that if the restrictions to achieve education increases by 1 unit then on the average holding the effect of other variable constant, the contribution of women decreases by .034118 rupees. The highly significant result shows that this variable is very important to determine the contribution of women in family budget because uneducated women have low productivity and they achieve low wages. Mostly in the areas, where we have collected data, women are involved in agriculture sector, in rearing of animals, and in making cot sewing material. These types of activities give very low earnings. Empirical evidences suggest that education increases the productivity, skills, and job opportunities for workers. For example, Naqvi and Shahnaz (2002), Sackey (2005) supported this view. The variable DRAT which is the ratio of number of dependents to total family members is positive and insignificant. It means that if the dependency ratio increases by 1 unit, on the average contribution of women to family budget increase by .0601 rupees. Household poverty status is the most important variable that affects the distribution of womens time to labor market and non market work. In our analysis, we have used the households poverty status as the binary variable. For this purpose, we have used the national poverty line. The families living below the national poverty line are considered poor and the women belonging to these families contribute more in their family budget. The positive results show that burden of poverty forces women to work in economic activities and generate income for their family. Our results are matched with Azid et al. (2001), Khan and Khan (2006), Khan and Khan (2009). Another variables included in our analysis are monthly income of the head of the household. The coefficient of HDMI is positive which shows that as the heads monthly income increases by 1 rupee the contribution of women in family budget decreases by 1.76 rupees, holding the effect of other variables constant. The explanation may be that as the head of household provides most of the needs of the family there is less need for the women to contribute in family budget. Women as head of household contribute more in their family budget because the whole responsibility of the family is on the women. The female- heads decisions are different from male heads decisions because the female headed households are more vulnerable to poverty than male headed household. As a result there is more need for women to contribute in their family budget. The positive coefficient of WHOH shows that women as head of household contribute more in their family budget as compared to women where the head of household is male. Our positive results are consistent with Khan and Khan (2006), Khan and Khan (2007). Table 1 .OLS results for the rural women contribution in family budget Std. Variable Coefficient Error t-Statistic -0.017 Constant 0.093677 -0.1907 0.008*** AGEW 0.004335 1.860017 -8.32EAGSQ 05*** 4.85E-05 -1.717841 -0.004 FSIZ 0.003999 -1.114717 -0.004 NCHI 0.004952 -0.970062 -0.049 MARD 0.032076 -1.541737

19

European Journal of Developing Country Studies, Vol.8 2010 ISSN(paper)2668-3385 ISSN(online)2668-3687 www.BellPress.org
0.017 FST 0.021281 0.814785 0.051* OWRP 0.020794 2.45895 -4.93E-07 FTMI 5.21E-07 -0.947468 -8.02E-06 WMEX 6.24E-06 -1.286162 1.73E-05* WMWA 2.38E-06 7.259921 -0.034*** REDU 0.020137 -1.694273 0.060 DRAT 0.049258 1.21993 0.074* POVS 0.022924 3.257359 -1.67E-06 HDMI 1.08E-06 -1.547313 0.059 WHOH 0.047538 1.243563 No of observations 200 R-squared 0.412928 Adjusted R-squared 0.412928 Prob 0.000 *significant at 1percent,**significant at 5 percent and *** significant at 10 percent (ii). Econometrics estimates of the OLS model 2 The econometrics estimates of OLS model 2 are given in table 2. In this model, we have estimated the contribution of rural women in their family budget by including some new explanatory variables, such as education of women, her work experience, number of earners in the family, different categories of the child age, and working hours of the women. The results of some variables such as family size, family set up, outside work permission, poverty status, dependency ratio, womens monthly wage rate, women as head of household, and restrictions to achieve education, are almost the same as we have estimated them in our previous model. The coefficient of womans experience (WEXP) is positive and significant but the coefficient of experience square (EXSQ) is negative and insignificant. The positive coefficient of working experience of women shows that if the womans experience increases by 1 year, on the average the contribution of woman increases by .006172 rupees, holding the effect of other variables constant. Experience increases womens productivity and skill. Due to specialization in their work, they become expert by doing the same job again and again, and they give more output and achieve high wage rate and are able to contribute more in family income. The significant results show that womans experience is the most important variable which affects the contribution of women in family budget because experienced women are better trained and they work more efficiently as compared to inexperienced women. Our positive results are also consistent with Mehrotra and Biggeri (2002) although their results are non-significant. Whereas, the coefficient of EXSQ gives the explanation that as the women becomes older, she becomes physically weak although she has better experience. We have included the variable, the education of woman in our model, her completed years of education. As education is the one of the major individual characteristics of the women. We have found a positive and significant relationship between the number of years of womans education and her contribution in family budget. The variable EDUW is significant. This shows that as the education of rural woman increases by 1 year, contribution of rural woman in family budget increases by .005271 rupees. Our results show that education increases the productivity by increasing the skill through training and they contribute more in their family budget. Another explanation may be that education increases womens efficiency in household tasks and reduces the time in home production and increases the time in market activities. So our results justify the theory. Our results are consistent with the findings of Naqvi and Shahnaz (2002), Khan and Khan (2006), Khan and Khan (2009), and Faridi et al. (2009). The variable NEAR (number of earners in the family) has negative coefficient and is insignificant. As the earning members in the family are more, family is well off and there is less need for women to involve and participate in economic activities. We have found a negative and significant relationship between the womans monthly expenditures and her contribution in family budget. The woman belonging to richer families and living in rural areas spend more income on herself but contributes less in economic activities because the job in rural areas are of low standard and rich families dont permit woman to work in these activities. So woman with more monthly expenditures contributes less in economic activities. We have found a positive relationship between womens contribution in family budget and the husbands working hours. The reason may be that as the working hours of husband increase, he spends less time at home and more time in work outside the home, so woman feels herself free to participate in income earning activities. . The number of children between the various age groups also differently affects the contribution of rural women in their family budget. The coefficient of CHAA (presence of children between the age group of 0 to 3 years) and CHAC (presence of children between the age group of 7 to 11 years) are negative and insignificant. The negative

20

European Journal of Developing Country Studies, Vol.8 2010 ISSN(paper)2668-3385 ISSN(online)2668-3687 www.BellPress.org
relationship supports the fact that children under the age of 3 years need care of their mothers, while the children between the ages of 7 to 11 years are involved in different tasks of child labor, so woman contributes less. Child category CHAB (presence of children within the age group of 4 to 7 years) have shown positive and insignificant relationship with the contribution of women in family budget. The reason may be that children within this age group are school going and the do not need care of their mothers, so women have time to contribute in income generating activities. In our study these variables are not very important to affect the contribution of women in income generating activities because during the collection of data, it is observed that most of the women are illiterate and belong to poor families, so they do not care for their children and are involved in various economic activities. The womens contribution in their family budget is also greatly affected by the familys total monthly income. So the coefficient of family total monthly income is positive and significant, supporting the fact that richer families do not permit women to work in low standard jobs. The positive sign of the coefficient of WORH shows that as the working hours of woman increase by 1 hour, the contribution of woman decreases by .000725 rupees holding the effect of other variables constant. The insignificant results show that this variable is not very important for womens employment decision because in rural area under study, most of the women are working long hours, but achieving low wages, yet contributing less in income generating activities. Table 2 OLS results of OLS model 2. Coefficient Std. Error t-Statistic 0.052 -0.001 0.006*** 0.005** -0.0001 -0.003 0.00001* 0.00001*** 0.0002 0.039 0.075* -0.041** -0.031 0.009 -0.025 0.006 0.058* -8.54E07** 0.0007 0.062 0.457351 0.04355 0.004275 0.003324 0.002647 0.0000872 0.007146 2.59E-06 6.51E-06 0.00223 0.060226 0.023844 0.022153 0.027045 0.026338 0.025415 0.021436 0.021416 4.89E-07 0.003248 0.048811 Adjusted R-squared 1.203777 -0.348243 1.856677 1.991794 -1.377442 -0.484631 5.411163 -1.764127 0.090574 0.660243 3.147395 -1.89411 -1.15157 0.344307 -0.995387 0.324313 2.71535 -1.746253 0.223243 1.287403

Variable Constant FSIZ WEXP EDUW EXSQ NEAR WMWA WMEX HWHO DRAT POVS REDU CHAA CHAB CHAC FST OWRP FTMI WORH WHOH

R-squared 0.399751 No of observations 200 *significant at 1percent,**significant at 5 percent and *** significant at 10 percent (iii). Econometric estimates of the OLS Model 3 In model 3, some variables are those which we have used in the previous models and their results are almost same but some variables such as: various education levels of woman, satisfaction from work, womans spending on herself, are new. In tabel 3, econometric results show that how various education levels of woman (primary, F.A, B.A, M.A, M.Sc, M.Com, M. phil, P.H.D) affects the contribution of women in their family budget. The results show that intercept is positive and significant which shows that some other variables which we have not included in this model also affect the contribution of women.

21

European Journal of Developing Country Studies, Vol.8 2010 ISSN(paper)2668-3385 ISSN(online)2668-3687 www.BellPress.org
We have included four categories of womens education level. The coefficient of PEDU (education up to primary level), SEDU (education up to secondary level), and BEDU (education up to graduation level), are positive and insignificant, while the coefficient of higher level of education (HED) is negative and insignificant. Our positive results are supported by Azid et.al (2001) and Coady (2001); they have also estimated the positive relationship between womens education and womens labor force participation . Education enhances the productivity and skill of the people. The coefficient of (SEDU) is positive and non significant. This shows the fact that women having education above primary and up to secondary level contribute more in their family budget. The coefficient shows if the level of education increases by 1 year the contribution of women in their family budget increases by .006872 rupees holding the effect of other variables fix. our results are supported by Pangestu and Hendytio 1997; Azid et.al 2001). Coady (2001) have also estimated the positive relationship between the womens education and womans labor force participation. The negative coefficient of HED shows that contribution of rural women in their family budget decreases by .001746 rupee due to an increase in the one unit of higher level of education. The explanation may be that jobs in the rural areas are of low standard and higher level of education of women shows that they come from the families who want that their women at least get better job otherwise no job. These women increase their productivity in making of fashionable clothes for them and spend most of their time in their make up rather than in economic activity. Another variable is satisfaction from work. The coefficient of WRKS is positive and non significant. The coefficient shows that if the work satisfaction increases by one unit, the contribution of rural women in family budget increase by .007698 rupee holding the effect of other variables constant. The insignificant results show that satisfaction from work is not an important variable to determine the contribution of rural women in family budget. During our field trip, we have observed that women were participating in economic activities because they were forced to work though they were not looking satisfied from their work. Some women were forced by their in- laws and husband to work in these tough and hard activities and some of them were forced to work due to the burden of the poverty. The coefficient of womens spending on herself (WSPN) is positive and non significant. We have used the binary variable showing that whether the women can spend most of her income on herself or not. During the survey, we have observed that some women want to spend income on their personal needs but they are forced not to spend major part of their income on their own requirements due to family burden or because their husband dont allow them to spend their income according to their own desire. Mostly, in rural area, men control whole income of the women and dont give them money to spend them freely. Table 3.OLS results of model 3 Std. Variable Coefficient Error t-Statistic C FSIZ MARD NCHI FST NEAR POVS OWRP REDU WMWA WMEX FTMI PEDU SEDU BEDU HED WRKS WSPN WHOH No of observations R-squared 0.108 -0.002 -0.023 -0.0007 0.013 0.0002 0.086* 0.056* -0.033 1.67E-05* -1.02E-05 -1.01E06** 0.010 0.006 0.051 -0.001 0.006 0.007 0.061 200 0.442673 0.051835 0.00409 0.031069 0.004583 0.021933 0.006317 0.023911 0.02125 0.02133 2.68E-06 6.80E-06 5.01E-07 0.031753 0.029193 0.04726 0.065204 0.021149 0.025344 0.048742 probability Adjusted 2.094847 -0.653619 -0.7449 -0.16635 0.611452 0.038138 3.61513 2.670809 -1.565703 6.227568 -1.493934 -2.02004 0.316797 0.235407 1.079131 -0.026783 0.309813 0.303733 1.270819 0.00 R-squared

22

European Journal of Developing Country Studies, Vol.8 2010 ISSN(paper)2668-3385 ISSN(online)2668-3687 www.BellPress.org
0.387248 *significant at 1 percent, and **significant at 5 percent

(V). CONCLUSION AND POLICY IMPLICATIONS (i). Conclusion The main findings of our results are that age of the woman has shown a nonlinear effect on the contribution of women in her family budget. We have found that outside work permission, womens monthly wage rate, education of women, burden of poverty, positively effect the contribution of rural women in their family budget. Family size, number of children, total monthly income of the women, and womens monthly expenditure has negative effect on the contribution of woman. Poorer the household, greater will be the contribution of women in household budget. The permission to woman to work outside the home greatly affects the contribution of women in her family budget. The important variables in our analysis are education of the women, age of the women, poverty status, outside work permission, women monthly wage rate, total monthly income of the family, womens monthly expenditures, restrictions to achieve education, and work experience of the woman. (ii). Policy Recommendation To enhance the contribution of working women to family budget Government should take the following measure. Poverty is the main problem in rural areas. Low contribution of women in rural areas is due to low wage rate. To increase the wage rate of women proper technical training, marketing facilities, minimum wage implementation should be given to women. This action would increase their productivity and income. Education is the most important factor that increases the contribution of rural women in their family budget. As our results show that education increases the contribution of rural women in their family budget. Women in rural areas are deprived of the right to education due to unavailability of school and due to rural culture and ideology. They are restricted to not go to school due to rural culture and ideology financial problems also prevent women to achieve education. Financial incentives can be provided to make adult education schools more relevant to the needs of women workers. High qualified teachers should be appointed in schools so that they can give proper education to the rural females. Credit facilities should be given to poor household because women have limited access to financial institution which provides credit facilities. Bank should provide loan to poor women. Invisibility of work of rural women to policy maker is main characteristic of rural areas. Because of mostly in the rural areas, women work in their home. Reliable and comparable data on the extent and nature of working women is a key element in the effort to combat problems. Statistically sound methodological surveys of female labor force would be undertaken. The wage gap between man and women is another cause of low contribution of rural women. This gap should be eliminated by government. Government should implement economic policy that would promote employment among working women. Cost of girls education should be reduced. Rural girls from low income families should be supported for admission in universities. Double burden born by working women should be eliminated by teaching family and house keeping skills to male members of the family. Womans economic dependence also affects her contribution. Women economic independence in the society and their participation in economic life should be promoted. Information about family planning should be provided to rural women because the burden of more infants also decreases her contribution

REFERENCES 2002. Poverty Assessment: Poverty in Pakistan: Vulnerabilities, Social Gaps and Rural Dynamics, October. 2008. Pakistan Employment Trends No. 3 Youth, Government of Pakistan, Ministry of Labour, Manpower and Overseas Pakistanis Islamabad, May 2008. Pakistan Employment Trends No. 4 Achieving MDG target 1b Full and productive employment and decent work for all, Government of Pakistan, Ministry of Labour, Manpower and Overseas Pakistanis, Islamabad, November 2009. Pakistan Employment Trends For Women , Labour Market Information and Analysis Unit, Ministry of Labour and Manpower, Government of Pakistan , No.5 Adwoa, O and T. F. Kwapong (2006) In Their Own Way At Their Own Level, Empowerment Among Rural Women: The Case of the Mo communities of Ghana, A Journal Of Culture And African Women Studies, ISSN: 1530-5686

23

European Journal of Developing Country Studies, Vol.8 2010 ISSN(paper)2668-3385 ISSN(online)2668-3687 www.BellPress.org
Alderman, H. and S. Chistie (1991) Simultaneous Determinants of Household and Market-Oriented Activities of Rural Women in Pakistan, Research in Population Economics, 7:245-265. Alderman, H. and S. Chistie (1991) Simultaneous Determinants of Household and Market-Oriented Activities of Rural Women in Pakistan, Research in Population Economics, 7:245-265. Arif , G . M and S. Hamid (2009) Urbanization, City Growth and Quality of Life in Pakistan Azid, T., M. Aslam and M. Omer (2001) Poverty, Female Labor Force Participation, and Cottage Industry: A Case Study of Cloth Embroidery in Rural Multan, Pakistan Development Review, 40(4):1105-18 Becker, G. (1965), A theory of the allocation of time, Economic Journal 75 (3), pp. 493-517. Becker, G. S (1981), A Treatise on the Family, Oxford: Oxford University Press. Becker,G.S (1973) A Theory of Marriage: Part I, The Journal of Political Economy, Vol. 81, No. 4,pp. 813-846. Behrman, J. and M. Rosenzweig (1994) Caveat Emptor: Cross-country Data on Education and Labor Force, Journal of Development Economics,44(1):147-72. Bell, C. H. (1974) Working Womens Contribution to Family Income, Eastern Economic Journal, 17:185-201. Benham, L. (1980) Benefits of Women Education within Marriage, Journal of Political Economy, 82(2): part II. Blumberg, R . L. (1984) A General Theory of Gender Stratification, Sociological Theory, pp. 23-101. Boserup, Easter (1970) Women's Role in Economic Development New York: St Martin Press. Cameron, L., J. M. Dowling and C. Worswick (2001) Education and Labor Market Participation of Women in Asia: Evidence from Five Countries, Economic Development and Cultural Change,49(3):459-477 Cancian, M., S. Danziger and Gottschalk (1991a) The Changing Contribution of Men and Women to the Level and Distribution of Family Income, 1968-1988. Working Paper No.62. Jerome Levy Economics Institute of Bard College Caruana, K. (2006) Female Labor Force Participation in Malta:A Labor Agenda Perspective, Bank of Volleto Review,33. Chafetz , J . S. (1990), Gender Equity: An Integrated Theory of Stability and Change Charmes, J. (1998) Women Working in the Informal Sector in Africa: New Methods and Data. United Nations Statistics Division. Gender and Development Program. NDP Charmes, J. (2000) African Women in Food Processing: A Major, But Still Underestimated Sector of Their Contribution to the National Economy. Paper prepared for the International Development Research Center (IDRC). Chiong-Javier, M . E (2009) Health Consequences of Rural Womens Productive Role in Agriculture in the Philippines and other Developing Countries,European Journal Of Social Sciences Vo.10 Coady, D., X. Dai and L. Wang (2001) Community Programs and Womens Participation: The Chinese Experience. Policy Research Working Paper 2622. The World Bank: East Asia and Pacific Region Duncan, K. C., M. J. Prus and J. G. Scandy (1993) Marital Status, Children and Womens Labor Market Choices, Journal of Socio-Economics, 22(3):277-288. Eapen, M. and P. Kodoth (2002) Family Structure, Women Education and Work: Reexamining the High Status of Women in Kerala. Working Paper No.341. Center for Development Studies, New Delhi. Ercelan, A. (2005) Women at work in Bondage: Unfree labor in Pakistan.sustainable Development Bridging the Research/ Policy gaps in Southern context. Vol.2.Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI).Oxford University Press. Fafchamps, M. and A. R. Quisumbing (2003) Social Roles, Human Capital, and the Intra-household Division of Labor: Evidence from Pakistan, Oxford Economic Papers, 55: 36-80. Faridi,M.Z. , I. Sharif , and M . Anwar(2009) The Socio-Economic and Demographic Determinants of Women Work Participation in Pakistan: Evidence from Bahawalpur District, A Research Journal of South Asian Studies Vol. 24, No. 2, pp. 353-369 FBS. 2006. Pakistan Social and Living Standards Measurement Survey 2005-06, Statistics Division, Federal Bureau of Statistics, Government of Pakistan, June. Finance Division. 2008. Economic Survey 2007-08, Government of Pakistan, Economic Advisers Wing, Islamabad, June. Gronau, R. (1977). .Leisure, Home Production, and Work . The Theory of the Allocation of Time Revisited., Journal of Political Economy, 85(6), 1099-1123. Haddad, L. and J. Haddinott (1995) Does Female Income Share Influence Household Expenditures. Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics 57(1):77-96. Harkness, S. (2010) The Contribution of Womens Employment and Earnings to Household Income Inequality: A CrossCountry Analysis, Centre for Analysis of Social Policy and Department of Social and Policy Studies,University of Bath Hoffmann, R. and E. T. Leone (2004) The Effect of Womens Labor Force Participation on Household Income Inequality in Brazil, 1981-2002, Nova Economia, 14(2):35-58. Illahi, N. and F. Grimard (2000) Public Infrastructure and Private Costs: Water Supply and Time Allocation of Women in Rural Pakistan, Economic Development and Cultural Change, 49(1): 45-75.

24

European Journal of Developing Country Studies, Vol.8 2010 ISSN(paper)2668-3385 ISSN(online)2668-3687 www.BellPress.org
Irfan, M. (1983) The Determinations of Female Labor Force Participation in Pakistan. Project Report No.5. Studies in Population, Labor Force and Migration, Pakistan Institute of Development Economics (PIDE), Islamabad Khan, R. E. A. and T. Khan (2007) Informally Employed Women: Their Characteristics and Contribution in Household Budget, Journal of Applied Sciences,7(14):1901-1907. Khan, T and R. E. A. Khan (2009) Urban Informal Sector: How much Women are Struggling for Family Survival, PDR Vol (48) 1 Khan, T. and R. E. A. Khan (2008) Household Characteristics: How much They Affect Womens Contribution in Household Budget, Indian Journal of Labor Economics, (Forthcoming Khan, T. and R. E. A. Khan (2008) Household Characteristics: How much They Affect Womens Contribution in Household Budget, Indian Journal of Labor Economics, (Forthcoming). Khan,R. E. A. and T, Khan (2009) Urban Informal Labor Market:How much Women are Struggling for Family Survival The Pakistan Development Review 48 Koorman, P.and A. Kapteyn (1987) A disaggregated analysis of the allocation of time within the household, Journal of political economy 95:223-249 Kozel, V. and H. Alderman (1989) Factors Determining Work participation and Labour Supply Decisions in Pakistans Urban Areas. Paper presented at fifth annual general meeting of Pakistan Institute of Development Economics, Islamabad, January 4-6. La Ferrara, E. (2002) Self Help Groups and Income Generations in the Informal Settlements of Nairobi, Journal of African Economies, 11 (1): 61-89. Levine, V. and P. R. Moock (1984) labourforce experience and earnings: women with children, economicsof education review, 3(3):183-193. Lokshin, M. L., E. Glinkaya and M. Garcia (2000) The Effect of Early Childhood Development Programs on Womens Labour Force Participation and Older Childrens Schooling in Kenya. Policy Research Working Paper 2376. The World Bank. Lokshin, M. L., E. Glinkaya and M. Garcia (2000) The Effect of Early Childhood Development Programs on Womens Labour Force Participation and Older Childrens Schooling in Kenya. Policy Research Working Paper 2376. The World Bank. Lundberg, Shelly & Pollak, Robert A. (1996), Bargaining and distribution in marriage., Journal of Economic Perspectives 10 (4), pp. 139-58. Luo, G (2005) Effects of Rural-Urban Migration on Rural Female Workers----A Case study of Chinese rural women, Paper for NACS Conference Helsinki, 7-9 Makhlouf, H. and B. El-Der (1998) The Role of Women as Family Planning Employees, Summary of Final Report Prepared for The Womens Studies ProjectFamily Health International Mammen, K. and C. Paxson (2000) Womens Work and Economic Development, Journal OF Economic Perspectives,14(40):141-164. Mehrotra, S. and M. Biggeri (2002) Social Protection in the Informal Economy: Home Based Women Workers and Outsourced Manufacturing in Asia. Innocenti Working Paper No. 97. Innocenti Research Centre, UNICEF, Florence. Mincer, J., 1962, Labor Force Participation of Married Women: A Study of Labor Supply in Aspects of Labor Economics (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press), pp. 6397. Ministry of Finance. 2003. Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper, Government of Pakistan, Planning Commission, Islamabad. Ministry of Womens Development Social Welfare and Special Education. 2002. Mirza, J. (2002) Between Chaddor and the Market: Female Office Workers in Lahore. Oxford University Press , Karachi. Naqvi, Z. F. and L. Shahnaz (2002) How Do Women Decide to Work in Pakistan, Pakistan Development Review, 41(2):495-513. Nasreen, et.al. (1994), Role of Rural Women In Decision Making In Various Family Affaires National Policy for Development and Empowerment of Women, Ministry of Womens Development, Social Welfare and Special Education, Islamabad Nazir, Z . M. 2005. An Analysis of occupational choice in Pakistan: A Multinomial approach, Pakistan Development Review, Vol. 44, No 1, pp 57-79. Ogbimi, G. E. , I.K.O. Soyebo and D.L. Alabi (2006), Minimizing Financial Management Problems among Rural Women for Sustainable Economic Empowerment: Case of Osun State, Nigeria , Research Journal of Social Sciences, 1(1): 51-55, Paci,P (1999) A Bundle of Joy or an Expensive Luxury:A Comparative Analysis of the Economic Environment for Family Formation in Western Europe, Social Protection Discussion Paper Series No. 9903

25

European Journal of Developing Country Studies, Vol.8 2010 ISSN(paper)2668-3385 ISSN(online)2668-3687 www.BellPress.org
Pakistan Workers Federation (PWF). 2009. Gender Equality Policy and Guidelines: For Pakistan Workers Federation and Constituent Trade unions, Lahore Polachek, S. W. and J. Robst (1997) Review of Investment in Womens Human Capital. Journal of Economic Literature 35(2):1404-1406. R.E. Khan, T. Khan (2009)Labor Force Participation of Married Women in Punjab (Pakistan)Journal of Economic and Social Research 11(2), 77-106 Ray, R. (2000) Poverty and Expenditure Pattern of Households in Pakistan and South Africa: A comparative Study, Journal of International Development, 12(2): 241-56. Sackey. H. A. (2005)Female labour force participation in Ghana:The effects of education , AERC Research Paper 150 African Economic Research Consortium, Nairobi Sathar, Z, and S. Desai (1996) Work Patterens in Rural Pakistan:Intersection Between Gender Family and Class. Working Paper No.90,Population Council, Islamabad. Shaw, K. (2005) Womens Contribution to Productivity, Regional Review, (1):45-48. Simister,J. (2005 Unpaid work in Indonesia: Testing unitary and bargaining theories , Development Ideas and Practices Working Paper DIP-05-02 Spring, Anita (1985) "The women in Agricultural Development Projects in Malawi: Making Gender Free Development Work" in Gallin and Spring (eds) op. cit. pp. 71-75. Sultana, N., H. Nazli and S. J. Malik (1994) Determinants of Female Time Allocation in Selected Districts of Rural Pakistan , Pakistan Development Review, 33(4):1141-1153. Sultana, S. A and M.A. Kamal (2002) Impact of Open and Distance Learning to Empower Rural Women in Bangladesh Thomas, D. (1990) Intra-household Resource Allocation Journal of Human Resources 25:634-64. Turner, J. (2003). Feminist Conflict Theory,The structure of sociological theory (7th ed.). Belmont, CA: Thompson/Wadsworth. Warner, M. W., R. M. Al-Hassan and G. Kydd (1996) Beyond Gender Roles? Conceptualizing the Social and Economic Lives of Rural People in Su-Saharan Africa. Mimeo London: Wye College, University of London. World Bank. 2006. Pakistan: Labor Market Study: Regulation, Job Creation, and Skills Formation, Washington, D.C., September

26