Puppets on a string: women's wage work and empowerment among female tea plantation workers of Sri Lanka.

Abstract

Access to resources and control of ones' income are key features of women's empowerment. The current development strategy is to create opportunities for poor women in developing countries. Because access to income alone does not ensure empowerment, this study examines sociopolitical factors among the Indian Tamil female tea plantation workers in Sri Lanka that impact women's ability to control their own income. 95% of the female Indian Tamil Plantation work force is devoted to the tea industry. Female labor force participation among the Indian Tamil was 54.3% in 1981 compared to total female labor force participation of 26%. The survey encompassed a sample of 420 female and 40 male unskilled workers of 22 large plantations in Nuwara Eliya district, which were managed by government corporations. Variables pertained to income levels, control of income within households, work schedules, household demographics, food habits and within household food allocation patterns, health status and health delivery system, and management structures. Results focused on control incomes, maternity benefits, the double burden for women, women's health and nutrition, female education, and trade unions and male dominance. Although women have increased their wage rate and work hours, there has not been a corresponding increase in women's ability to control their incomes. there remains a male dominated social and political system, which continues to entrap women as a productive resource. One way in which women's empowerment has been stalled has been through the control of women's income and labor, and male dominance both at work and home. Successful schemes for women's empowerment are demonstrated in the Self Employed Women's Association, Working Women's Forum of India, and the Grameen Bank of Bangladesh.

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