title: Women's Agency and the Quality of Family Relationships in India.
abstract: The role of family context in determining women's agency has been addressed through kinship patterns, household structure, and domestic violence. This study suggests that another aspect of family context - family relationship quality - can also influence women's agency. Data from the Women's Reproductive Histories Survey, collected in Madhya Pradesh, India, are used to examine whether family relationship quality is a determinant of women's agency. Results show that women with higher quality relationships with husbands and parents-in-law do have greater agency. Further, family relationship quality is just as influential as other well known determinants of agency, including education and employment.
authors.affiliation: Postdoctoral Fellow, Population Studies Center, University of Michigan, 426 Thompson St., Ann Arbor, MI 48106, USA, .
authors.forename: Keera
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Allendorf
keywords: India; South Asia; domestic violence; empowerment; gender; marital quality