Women’s Work and Child Care in Rural India: A Case Study of Bhandara District

The present paper is an attempt to study the various dimensions of women’s work including employment status, type of work, working hours and place of work and the impact of women's work on household chores including child caring. The data has been collected from 700 households of 20 villages in Bhandara district. Anthropological approach is used for collection of extensive information. It is revealed from analysis that most of the women were working till marriage and after marriage in Bhandara district to support family economically and to support family work. Half of the women are working seasonal/part of the year and nearly one quarter of women is working throughout the year till marriage. Seven out of ten women contributed their entire income to the total family income and most of the women reported that their monetary contribution to the family is important. Thirty two percent of women are carrying their children with them at the place of work. Nearly three fourths of women reported that that they take care of schooling and immunization of child when they are working. The improvement in work conditions can more effectively improve child care. This would entail a more widely dispersed development programme.