Intra-Household Decision-Making

  • Objective: To understand how decisions are made around resources and strategies women use to influence men’s decision-making.
  • Materials/Preparation: Interview checklist based on relevant literature and discussions with field staff and partners familiar with the local context. Teams should also discuss the translations for ‘power’ and ‘empowerment’ to be used with respondents.If time permits, interviews should be piloted and adjusted before the study itself, and adapted for interviews with men. To prepare staff for research, teams also conducted mock interviews during CARE Bangladesh’s SII.
  • Participants: Men and women across age, household composition, ethnicity and well-being groups in individual interviews.

Steps

Research pairs conducted semi-structured interviews and used key personal events in women’s lives (i.e. education, dowry, marriage, work/income for both women and their daughters) as the basis for discussing decision-making, women’s interpretation and use of power.

Example questions from Tanzania:

Education
  • How much education of self/spouse? Literacy?
    • Probe→ Why did(n’t) you go to school?
  • Education of children? Education plans for boy children? And for girl children?
    • Probe→ Barriers? Factors preventing education?
  • In your opinion, why is education important?
  • Without education, where do you see the future of your children? Why?
  • With education, where do you see the future of your children? Why?
  • In your family, how is the decision made whether children go to school or not?
Marriage
  • When were you married and tell me about the circumstances. (Your age and that of your spouse; who made the decision; bride-price)
  • What are you planning/what happened for your children? (same kind of ideas as above).
    • Probe→ (if different) Why was this different?
  • Do you practice any form of birth control? What kind? Is this a collective decision with your husband/partner? Or a personal decision?
  • [if polygamous 1st wife]: Were you consulted in the second marriage? How has your life changed since the arrival of a new wife? /
  • [if polygamous man]: Did you consult your 1st wife in your second marriage?
  • [if inherited/widow]: Please share with us the circumstances after your husband’s death.
  • [if divorced/living with partner/abandoned/FHH]: Please share with us the circumstances of your ________. Probe about: social support, stigmatization, etc.
Gender roles in the household
  • What is your responsibility inside the household (i.e. cooking, childcare, domestic duties, crop processing)? Was it the same for your mother or different?
  • What are the responsibilities of your spouse or partner? Was it the same for your father or different?
Decision-making
  • Mobility
    • How far away is your original family?
    • How often do you visit your birth village? And how often are you free to go?
    • [for women] What is the farthest you have been away from your home? And with whom?
    • Are you free to go anywhere or do you have to consult first? What are the circumstances (doctor, visiting family, visiting friends, markets)?
  • Assets and income
    • Are you a member of a VSLA group? IF yes, how much do you contribute on a weekly basis? Have you taken any loans and how did you spend the money?
    • [for women]  Do you earn any cash income?
    • [for women]  Do you own any assets? (livestock? Goats? Ducks? Chickens?)
    • [for women]  Do you own land? Do you rent land in? Do you cultivate any land where the crop is yours? Is there any petty trading? (i.e. burning charcoal)
    • [for women]  Do you ever have money of your own where you can decide how to spend it?
Conclusion
  • When have you felt most in control of your life? When have you felt least in control of your life?
  • Who is your Role Model? And why?

As preparation, a mock interview between a researcher and a field facilitator was observed by the other facilitators who then carried out the interviews. For interviews, women interviewed women and men interviewed men.

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Resources

  • B Bode (2010). Regional Capacity-Building Initiative in Situational Analysis. CARE International – East / Central Africa Regional Management Unit.
  • N Kanji, B Bode and A Haq (2005). Women’s Empowerment: Perceptions, Boundaries and Strategies in Jalagari Village, NW Bangladesh. CARE Bangladesh.