Feeling relatively poor increases support for women in the workplace – but men still don’t want them making household decisions

Feeling poor relative to others can spur families to support women in pursuing work outside the household and to invest more in girls’ schooling, according to new study conducted by the Associated Press. But that does not mean women become more empowered.

A survey experiment conducted in Papua New Guinea in 2018 to see how feeling economically left behind affects gender attitudes. A special type of survey technique was used to subtly alter respondents’ perception of their economic well-being in relation to other households. Half of the study participants were randomly primed to feel that they were at the bottom of a wide income distribution.

When surveyed both women and men in both groups about their attitudes toward women’s roles to assess the effects of the experiment on gender attitudes, specifically. It was found that attitudes about women’s proper roles were sensitive to perceptions of their relative poverty. When those surveyed felt relatively poor, they were more likely to support women’s economic participation, including in terms of girls going to school.

At first blush, the increase in male support for women’s working seems to be good news for women’s economic empowerment. But two troubling side effects were found.

First, being primed to feel poor did not lead men in the survey to indicate greater support for women’s making decisions about how to manage household assets. But it did lead women to want more decision-making authority. It was speculated that women feeling the stakes were higher to make good economic decisions when they felt poorer and were expected to contribute relatively more to their household’s income. These contrasting effects for women compared with men were important, as they suggested societal income inequality may trigger greater household tension. This is worrisome, particularly in places with an already high rate of domestic violence like Papua New Guinea.

Second, the focus group discussions were carried out and confirmed that working outside the home did not reduce women’s unpaid domestic burdens. Indeed, some women even indicated these unwavering responsibilities as a reason to shy away from the formal labour market lest they expose themselves to violence at home for failing to perform domestic duties.

It was gathered that feelings of relatively poverty were yet another factor fueling the demand for women to “do it all” – generate income outside the home while also performing a disproportionate share of household chores.

Why it matters

The COVID-19 pandemic is expected both to significantly increase the number of people living in extreme poverty and to worsen overall income inequality.

The findings suggest that, as a result, more women around the world could want to or be compelled by family members to enter the workforce. While women’s economic participation can be a positive development, the benefits are lost if it mainly means women’s workloads increase without greater ability to make decisions affecting their lives.

This underscores the need for more government support for women’s actual empowerment through efforts like offering couples workshops that encourage women’s participation in household decision-making, as well as education campaigns aimed at confronting harmful beliefs about the acceptability of domestic violence.