World Development Report 1984

Box 6.2 Women's use of and control over their time
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increasing the incentive to educate girls. The pro- Economic dependence on men entails special
portion of girls enrolled in school is low in many risks for these women, risks that go beyond the
countries of the Middle East, where employment natural disasters or the process of aging to which
and other activities outside the home are extremely both men and women are exposed. Widowhood,
limited for women. In other Muslim countries-for divorce, separation, incapacitating illness of the
example, Indonesia-female education and female husband-these are serious threats when women
employment tend to rise together. Once they are have few ways to provide for themselves. The
able to earn an income, women may acquire higher most obvious insurance against the risk of losing
status in the home, thus enabling them to talk the economic support of a husband is to have sevmore
openly about birth control with their hus- eral sons. Such a preference is likely to raise fertilbands.
Although a significant number of women ity, particularly if a target number of sons is conuse
contraception without the knowledge of their sidered essential.
husbands, open discussion leads to longer and In addition to encouraging better education and
* more effective contraceptive use. work opportunities for women, each government
The "status of women" is a phrase covering can lay the groundwork for improvements in
numerous social and economic characteristics that women's status by guaranteeing women certain
affect a woman's life. In northern India, Pakistan, rights-of inheritance, marriage, divorce, litiga-
Bangladesh, and many countries of the Middle tion, and property. In other areas, too-such as the
East, a woman is separated from her own family at right to participate in the choice of a husbandmarriage
and required to develop new allegiances much remains to be done to reshape deep cultural
to her husband's family. This ensures that she will beliefs so that women can play their full part in the
not become a liability to her own family. Her per- economic and social life of their countries. In the
sonal contacts and relations with strangers are lim- process, much will be done to reduce fertility.
ited. Typically, she cannot inherit property from
her husband's family, nor can she pass it on. Urban residence
Often, her chief role is to produce sons; in that
way she most effectively secures her own position Urban dwellers generally enjoy many advantages
in her new family. over their rural counterparts. They have access to