Female headship in India: levels, differentials and impact

Sayeed Unisa, International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS)
Nitin Datta, International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS)

In patriarchal societies all over the world and in India in particular, an elderly male member of the family is considered the ‘household head’. With change of household structure, and development, women are now assuming headship status in the household and such households are termed as female headed households (FHH). Firstly, the purpose of this paper is to study the incidence of female headship and the characteristic of these households. Secondly, the paper aims to examine the impact of female headship on the life of women as well as on the life of other members of the household. For the present study, National Health and Family Survey, 1998-99 is used. Incidence of female-headed households was relatively higher in South and East India than other regions. Female headship is showing positive influence on health of women, education of children and autonomy, and it has negative relationship with economic conditions