Does paid work provide a pathway to women's empowerment? Empirical findings from Bangladesh

Abstract

The debate about the relationship between paid work and women’s position
\nwithin the family and society is a long standing one. Some argue that women’s
\nintegration into the market is the key to their empowerment while others offer
\nmore sceptical, often pessimistic, accounts of this relationship. These
\ncontradictory viewpoints reflect a variety of factors: variations in how
\nempowerment itself is understood, variations in the cultural meanings and social
\nacceptability of paid work for women across different contexts and the nature of
\nthe available work opportunities within particular contexts. This paper uses a
\ncombination of survey data and qualitative interviews to explore the impact of
\npaid work on various indicators of women’s empowerment ranging from shifts in
\nintra‐household decision‐making processes to women’s participation in public
\nlife. It finds that forms of work that offer regular and relatively independent
\nincomes hold out the greater transformative potential. In addition, it highlights a
\nrange of other factors that also appear to contribute to women’s voice and
\nagency in the context of Bangladesh.