The gendered practices of the upwardly mobile in India
1University of Pennsylvania, 3718 Locust Walk, McNeil Building, Ste. 353, Philadelphia, PA, 19104-6299, USA.
Abstract:
This study examines the relationship between economic mobility and the practice of female seclusion in Indian households using the India Human Development Survey (IHDS), a nationally representative panel survey. Women from households which became wealthier between survey waves were found to have increased restrictions on their physical mobility as well as higher odds of practicing head-covering or purdah. These results held even after the inclusion of controls for changes in household composition, health of the woman, and her labor force participation. Stratified fixed effects regression analyses revealed that mobility-induced female seclusion was primarily practiced in poorer communities, in rural areas, and among the less-educated. The findings suggest that economically mobile households may use female seclusion as a strategy to signal household status.
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