♤ CONTROL OVER OWN EARNINGS

“Empowerment” also means “to invest with power”. In the context of women empowerment, it refers to increased control over their own lives, bodies and environment. Hence, an important indicator of “agency” is decision making power. For women particularly the post-marriage phase of life decides the capability of women to overcome barriers all translate into increased/decreased agency.

According to NFHS-3, married men are more likely to be involved in decisions about the use of their own earnings than married women. The data also show that men have higher level of decision making power compared to women to use their own earnings. Further, it is evident that most than two third of women are unable to make decisions alone about the use of their own earnings.