Percent distribution of currently married women (or men) age 15-49 by person who usually makes decisions about:
1) Own health care.
2) Large household purchases.
3) Visits to family or relatives (women only).
Coverage:
Population base: Currently married women (or men) and currently married men age 15-49 (IR file, MR file)
Time period: Current status at time of survey
Numerators:
Number of currently married women (or men) age 15-49 by person who usually makes decisions about:
1) Own health care (women: v743a; men: mv743a)
2) Large household purchases (women: v743b; men: mv743b)
3) Visits to family or relatives (women: v743d)
Denominator: Number of currently married women (or men) age 15-49 (women: v502 = 1; men: mv502 = 1)
Variables: IR file, MR file.
|
v502 |
Currently/formerly/never in union (women) |
|
v743a |
Person who usually makes decisions about: respondent's health care (women) |
|
v743b |
Person who usually makes decisions about: large household purchases (women) |
|
v743d |
Person who usually decides on visits to family or relatives (women) |
|
v005 |
Women's sample weight |
|
mv502 |
Currently/formerly/never in union (men) |
|
mv743a |
Person who usually makes decisions about: respondent's health care (men) |
|
mv743b |
Person who usually makes decisions about: large household purchases (men) |
|
mv005 |
Men's sample weight |
Numerator divided by the denominator multiplied by 100.
Missing values for the person who usually makes decisions about each of the issues is included in a separate category in the percent distribution.
The question on who makes decisions about visits to family or relatives is only asked to women so does not apply for men.
When these questions were first introduced into the DHS standard questionnaire, they were asked from both married and unmarried women. From about 2004, the questions were restricted to only currently married women. In addition, till about 2014, women were also asked who usually made decisions about making daily household purchases. This decision item was removed from the questionnaire in the 2014 questionnaire revision.
From about 2004, the standard Man’s Questionnaire had a question that asked men “In a couple who do you think should have the greater say in each of the following decisions: the husband, the wife, or both equally” followed by five different types of decisions. This set of questions was asked of both married and unmarried men and was meant to capture men’s gender role attitudes and not what actually happens in a household. In the 2014 revision of the questionnaire, this set of questions was dropped and was replaced by the same questions that are asked of women on who usually makes decisions in the household. As for women, the questions were restricted to only currently married men.
Prior to DHS-V, the response option of “Respondent and someone else jointly” was included. This response option is still sometimes included on a country-specific basis.
Hanmer, L., and J. Klugman. 2016 "Exploring women's agency and empowerment in developing countries: Where do we stand?." Feminist Economics 22, no. 1: 237-263.
Jennings, L., M. Na, M. Cherewick, M. Hindin, B. Mullany, and S. Ahmed. 2014. "Women’s empowerment and male involvement in antenatal care: analyses of Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) in selected African countries." BMC pregnancy and childbirth 14, no. 1: 297.
Kishor, S. and L. Subaiya. 2008. Understanding Women’s Empowerment: A Comparative Analysis of Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) Data. DHS Comparative Reports No. 20. Calverton, Maryland, USA: Macro International Inc. https://dhsprogram.com/publications/publication-cr20-comparative-reports.cfm
Upadhyay, U. D., J. D. Gipson, M. Withers, S. Lewis, E. J. Ciaraldi, A. Fraser, M. J. Huchko, and N. Prata. 2014. "Women's Empowerment and Fertility: A Review of the Literature." Social Science & Medicine 115: 111-120. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2014.06.014.
Ewerling, F., F. C. Wehrmeister, C. G. Victora, A. Raj, L. McDougal, and A. J. Barros. 2021. "Is Women’s Empowerment Associated with Coverage of Rmnch Interventions in Low-and Middle-Income Countries? An Analysis Using a Survey-Based Empowerment Indicator, the Swper." Journal of Global Health 11. https://doi.org/10.7189/jogh.11.04015.
DHS-8 Tabulation plan: Table 15.7
API Indicator IDs:
Women:
WE_DMKH_W_WIF, WE_DMKH_W_JNT, WE_DMKH_W_HUS, WE_DMKH_W_ELS, WE_DMKH_W_OTH, WE_DMKH_W_DKM, WE_DMKP_W_WIF, WE_DMKP_W_JNT, WE_DMKP_W_HUS, WE_DMKP_W_ELS, WE_DMKP_W_OTH, WE_DMKP_W_DKM, WE_DMKV_W_WIF, WE_DMKV_W_JNT, WE_DMKV_W_HUS, WE_DMKV_W_ELS, WE_DMKV_W_OTH, WE_DMKV_W_DKM
Men:
WE_DMKH_M_WIF, WE_DMKH_M_JNT, WE_DMKH_M_HUS, WE_DMKH_M_ELS, WE_DMKH_M_OTH, WE_DMKH_M_DKM, WE_DMKP_M_WIF, WE_DMKP_M_JNT, WE_DMKP_M_HUS, WE_DMKP_M_ELS, WE_DMKP_M_OTH, WE_DMKP_M_DKM
SDG Indicator 5.6.1
Percentage of currently married women and men age 15-49 who usually make specific decisions either alone or jointly with their husband or wife for:
1) Own health care.
2) Large household purchases.
3) Visits to family or relatives.
4) All three (or two [men]) decisions.
5) None of the decisions.
Coverage:
Population base: Currently married women (or men) age 15-49 (IR file, MR file)
Time period: Current status at time of survey
Numerators:
Number of currently married women (or men) age 15-49 who usually make specific decisions alone or jointly with their husband (or wife) for:
1) Own health care (women: v743a in 1:2; men: mv743a in 1:2)
2) Large household purchases (women: v743b in 1:2; men: mv743b in 1:2)
3) Visits to family or relatives (women: v743d in 1:2)
4) All three decisions (women: v743a in 1:2 & v743b in 1:2 & v743d in 1:2); All two decisions (men: mv743a in 1:2 & mv743b in 1:2)
5) None of the decisions (women: v743a ≠ 1,2 & v743b ≠ 1,2 & v743d ≠ 1,2; men: mv743a ≠ 1,2 & mv743b ≠ 1,2)
Denominator: Number of currently married women (or men) age 15-49 (women: v502 = 1; men: mv502 = 1)
Variables: IR file, MR file.
|
v502 |
Currently/formerly/never in union (women) |
|
v743a |
Person who usually makes decisions about: respondent's health care (women) |
|
v743b |
Person who usually makes decisions about: large household purchases (women) |
|
v743d |
Person who usually makes decisions about: visits to family or relatives (women) |
|
v005 |
Women's sample weight |
|
mv502 |
Currently/formerly/never in union (men) |
|
mv743a |
Person who usually makes decisions about: respondent's health care (men) |
|
mv743b |
Person who usually makes decisions about: large household purchases (men) |
|
mv005 |
Men's sample weight |
Numerator divided by the denominator multiplied by 100.
Missing values on who usually make specific decisions are assumed to be someone other than the respondent and are excluded from the numerators for the first four indicators but is included in numerator for the fifth indicator.
See Changes over Time for Participation in Decision Making.
Kishor, S., and L. Subaiya. 2008. Understanding Women’s Empowerment: A Comparative
Analysis of Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) Data. DHS Comparative Reports No. 20. Calverton,
Maryland, USA: Macro International Inc.
https://www.dhsprogram.com/publications/publication-CR20-Comparative-Reports.cfm
Kishor, S., Ed. 2005. A Focus on Gender: Collected Papers on Gender Using DHS Data. Calverton,
Maryland, USA: ORC Macro.
https://www.dhsprogram.com/publications/publication-OD32-Other-Documents.cfm
DHS-8 Tabulation plan: Tables 15.8.1 and 15.8.2
API Indicator IDs:
Women:
WE_DMAK_W_OHC, WE_DMAK_W_MPC, WE_DMAK_W_FAM, WE_DMAK_W_3DC, WE_DMAK_W_NON
Men:
WE_DMAK_M_OHC, WE_DMAK_M_MPC, WE_DMAK_M_2DC, WE_DMAK_M_NON
(API link, STATcompiler link)