Do Women Have a Say? Explaining Variation in Female Participation in Household Decision-Making

We analyze a select set of demographic features that influence women's power in household decision-making in rural India. Estimates of causal factors are generated using a large-scale, six-year panel dataset, composed of over 1500 households from eight Indian states. We create a novel composite measure of gender-wise division of household decision making power, reflecting the extent to which women contribute to choices regarding children, contraceptives, healthcare and household assets. We examine variation in decision-making power across a wide range of social and economic variables, including education, age, caste, and religion.