Familial Life and Work Participation among Wives of Out-migrant and Non-migrant Husbands in Rural Garhwal, India

Kinship linkages and family residence patterns influence the households’ adaptation to migration. Therefore, the objective of the present study is to analyse the working hours of wives of the out-migrant and non-migrant husbands and to study the decision making power of the wives of both the groups. Primary data has been collected during May-July 2011 in rural area of Garhwal, a district in the state of Uttarakhand in India. The total sample size is 262 left-behind wives due to husbands’ out-migration and 256 wives of non-migrants. It is observed that women spend most of their time in food preparation, cleaning, child care and livestock care and agricultural work. Looking into the total mean hours worked by the wives of both the groups, one can conclude that there is no difference in total working hours. This means that out-migration of husbands have not burdened their wives with extra working hours. Women participate widely in agricultural production in rural Garhwal, and in decision making related to agriculture production. Out-migration of husbands enhances the decision-making power of their wives. At the same time, increase in responsibilities of women which further declines the mental health of the left behind wives.