THEME: Tribal women have little control over household-level decisions or major expenditures.

A 1997 IFAD study that took place in the tribal areas of Madhya Pradesh found that even though tribal women contributed significantly to household income, they had little say in decision-making regarding household expenditures.

The study recognizes male-female sharing of both domestic and productive work. Women work in agriculture, collect and sell non-timber forest products during certain months of the year, and engage in wage labour. Men do much the same thing. There is considerable equality in domestic work, with men and older males, as well as female children, cooking, house cleaning, performing younger child care and collecting fuel wood. But this equality is not reflected in decision-making regarding income.

In general, decisions on important household expenditures are taken by the male head of the household.

• In a joint family, the father-in-law makes the decisions. He controls household income and decides how it should be spent. However, it is surprising that in his absence it is apparently not his son, but his wife who controls the income. The daughter-in-law has no significant decision-making power.
• In a nuclear family, which is becoming increasingly popular, the husband is the main decision-maker. This applies even to decisions regarding the care of children and health issues, as well as to decisions on agricultural matters and the purchase of consumer goods. The woman is consulted on expenditures, but in reality this often means that she is only "informed" of what the man has decided.

Smaller decisions regarding day-to-day expenditures for household requirements can be made by the young wife. She is likely to be the one left at home while the rest of the family goes out to the fields or to the forest to work. These decisions regard mainly the types of things women can purchase at the village level, such as salt or spices. If a purchase requires a trip to the town, then the husband is likely to go and decide what to buy. Even purchases of clothing and jewelry for women are usually done either jointly or by the man. However, the study notes that in some villages, women form groups to go to town to sell forest products at certain times of the year (datoon, leaf plates, char, lac). In this case, the money the women earn from the sale is spent on the return trip home in the purchase of clothing for them and their children.

In a nuclear family, the household income from wage labour, from the sale of forest products or from agriculture is kept in a box, which is a type of common purse. This is controlled by the man. However, if the woman is more educated, she may carry the money with her and take care of the household expenditures. Even in this case, the woman is often obliged, out of fear of violence, to give men money for the purchase of daru (liquor). Women consider this use of scarce income as a major problem.

Generally, tribal women have little control over household expenditures. But there are small signs of change. The study found that women are anxious to have their own income-generating groups and clearly separate sources of income, which, presumably, they feel they could control better than the men, who are apt to spend it on liquor.

Adapted from:

Vettivel, Surendra Kumar. 1997. India: Madhya Pradesh Tribal Development Project - Participatory Development Framework, Community Institution Building, Indigenous Social Structure, Women's Participation, Role of NGOs. Rome: IFAD, June.

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