191
Figure 11.7: Economic activities of women by five year age group
Although only few women are involved in paid work, many expressed their personal desire to work for money. In urban areas 40.2 percent of women would like to work for money, this percentage is even
higher in rural areas 44.7 percent. Although very few Kuchi women work outside the household, 35.9 percent would want to work for money Table 5.9.2.
Table 11.2: Women 14 years of age and over by preference to work for money and place of residence
Residence Wants paid
Does not want Already has
work paid work
paid work National
43.1 54.9
2.0 Urban
40.2 56.5
3.4 Rural
44.7 53.8
1.5 Kuchi
35.9 62.3
1.8
11.5 Decision making
The ability for a woman to decide independently on the use of the money she earned is an important indicator of her empowerment.
Table 11.3
shows which person in the household decides on how the money earned by the woman is spent, by place of residence. The upper part of the table shows the
percentage distribution for all women, while the bottom half is restricted to the small group of women who earn money. The figures clearly show that urban women have more decision power on how the
money they earned is spent: 48.3 percent of urban indicate they alone decide how the money is spend, against 31.1 percent in rural areas and only 6.1 percent among the Kuchi population. In the table three
categories are present were the woman does not have any control over how the money is spent, that is situations where decisions are taken by the husband alone, by the father or mother and by another
household member. In urban areas 15.9 percent of women indicate other members of the household decide on how to spend the money. In rural areas and among the Kuchi this is considerably higher,
10 20
30 40
50 60
14 15-19 20-24 25-29 30-34 35-39 40-44 45-49 50-54 55-59 60-64 65-69 70-74 75-79 80-84 85-89 90-94 95+
P er
ce n
tag e
Age Agricultural work
Non-agricultural work, own account or family business Business, not for household member
Making clothes, carpets, other goods for household use
192
respectively 32.0 percent and 30.3 percent. In many cases women have some decision power but share it with either their husband or other household members. Although only 6.1 percent of Kuchi women
could decide independently how to spend the money, 63.6 percent have some influence, in consultation with the husband or other household members.
Table 11.3: Women 14 years of age and over, by person who decides how money earned by the woman is spent, and by residence in percentages
Residence Total
Dont Woman
Husband Father
Other Herself
Herself earn any
alone alone
or household
and and other
money mother
member husband
household
member
National 100.0
83.6 5.5
1.8 2.2
0.7 3.0
3.2 Urban
100.0 87.2
6.2 0.5
1.1 0.4
1.8 2.8
Rural 100.0
82.1 5.6
2.2 2.7
0.9 3.4
3.2 Kuchi
100.0 85.5
0.9 2.9
0.9 0.6
3.3 5.9
For women who earn money National
100.0 n.a.
33.7 10.9
13.3 4.5
18.3 19.3
Urban 100.0
n.a. 48.3
4.0 8.4
3.5 14.3
21.6 Rural
100.0 n.a.
31.1 12.3
15.0 4.7
19.2 17.6
Kuchi 100.0
n.a. 6.1
20.1 6.4
3.8 22.9
40.7
One would expect that younger women could decide more independently on how to spend their self- earned money, but the ALCS 2013-14 does not support this supposition data not shown here.
Percentages for all age groups 14 to 70 years of age hovering between 30 and 40 percent, without any clear age pattern.
Many women in Afghanistan possess livestock. It should not come as a surprise that more women in rural areas and among the Kuchi have their own animals; 32.5 percent in rural, 6.6 percent in urban areas
and 35 percent among Kuchi women.
Figure 11.8
shows the percentage of women who have one or more animals of a particular type. The possession of livestock by women rises with age, reaches a peak
in the age group 45-49, and then drops again. Chickens are the livestock most often possessed by women, but more than just a few women have their own cows, goats and sheep.
193
Figure 11.8: Women 14 years of age and over, by age, and by possession of specified livestock in percentages
In terms of women’s ability to control their own financial resources, it is important to know to what extent they can decide how to use the profits from the livestock they own. In general, the percentage of
women who can decide on their own what to do with the money earned by selling livestock is 40.2 percent
Table 11.4
. Note that in 20 percent of cases no answer was provided, probably because many women have no experience with selling livestock, as they are used only for household consumption e.g.
chickens.
Table 11.4: Women 14 years of age and over, by person who decides how money earned by selling females livestock is spent, and by residence in percentages
Residence Total
Woman Husband
Father Other
Herself Herself
alone alone
or household
and and other
mother member
husband household
member National
100.0
40.2 14.3
6.6 1.8
12.7 24.3
Urban 100.0
47.9 7.7
3.1 1.2
7.1 33.0
Rural 100.0
40.2 14.4
7.4 1.9
12.5 23.6
Kuchi 100.0
32.4 20.6
0.0 1.4
21.6 24.0
Figures may not add up to 100.0 percent due to rounding
In about 23 percent of cases the woman does not have any decision power what to do with the money, as it is either the husband, the parents or other members of the household who decide. In 37 percent the
woman has some input, but the decision is taken together with others.
5 10
15 20
25 30
35 40
14 15-19 20-24 25-29 30-34 35-39 40-44 45-49 50-54 55-59 60-64 65-69 70-74 75-79 80-84 85+ P
er ce
n tag
e
Age Chickens
Other poultry Goats sheep
Cows Other animals
194
11.6 Seclusion
