Women’s Autonomy in reproductive health decision making: A comparative study of Working and Nonworking Women

Abstract

The current investigation aimed to explore the autonomy of working and non-working women in
decision-making about reproductive health by concerning demographic characteristics. The study
also tried to identify family and societal pressures faced by women within Pakistani society. The
current study used a quantitative research design. A cross-sectional survey comprising a sample of
200 women (n=100 working and n=100 non-working women) between the age of 15-49 years was
recruited from different areas of Lahore through the convenient sampling technique. A self-built scale
containing 91 elements created on the Likert scale was used to quantify women's autonomy. It was
hypothesized that there was a relationship between the autonomy of women and the work status. It
was also hypothesized that autonomy has a relationship with the women's decision power about
reproductive health. The outcomes show an inverse relationship between autonomy and work status of
women. Moreover, even a negative association was visible between decision-making on reproductive
health and autonomy of women. Limitations and suggestions are also discussed in the study.