Demographic

Table 16.5 shows the percentage of women who report that they decide alone or jointly aboutspecific household decisions, according to background characteristics. The results indicate that themajority of currently married women participate in making decisions on purchases for daily householdneeds (80 percent), their own health care (68 percent), and major household purchases (61 percent). It isin the decisions regarding visits to her family or relatives that women are less likely to have any say (51percent). Overall, 36 percent of currently married women participate in all of the four specified decisionsand only 11 percent say that they do not participate in any of the decisions.The degree of independence in making household decisions increases with age and number ofchildren. Urban women, women who earn cash, and the most educated women are more likely to have afinal say in all given decisions. Across regions, women in Manzini are the most likely to have participatedin all household decisions, while women in Lubombo are the least likely to participate in decisionmaking(42 percent compared with 25 percent).Table 16.5 Women's participation in decisionmaking by background characteristicsPercentage of currently married women age 15-49 who usually make specific decisions either by themselves or jointly withtheir husband, by background characteristics, Swaziland 2006-07BackgroundcharacteristicOwnhealth careMakingmajorhouseholdpurchasesMakingpurchasesfor dailyhouseholdneedsVisits to herfamily orrelativesPercentagewhoparticipate inall fourdecisionsPercentagewhoparticipatein none ofthe fourdecisionsNumber ofwomenAge15-19 60.7 48.8 74.0 30.7 20.2 19.7 8820-24 67.8 55.1 75.8 51.3 32.7 11.0 34325-29 66.7 55.9 78.2 49.2 32.5 12.0 38830-34 65.0 65.3 79.9 48.2 33.9 12.2 37935-39 69.9 62.8 84.0 56.4 37.4 6.8 33440-44 68.5 64.0 81.0 53.8 37.8 11.0 29145-49 74.6 70.4 85.5 57.7 48.2 7.1 238Employment (past 12 months)Not employed 62.7 53.6 75.9 48.7 30.8 14.0 902Employed for cash 74.3 68.3 84.4 54.7 41.4 7.5 1,021Employed not for cash 60.0 57.3 76.5 33.7 18.0 10.7 69Missing 53.1 56.8 75.6 55.0 30.3 13.3 70Number of living children0 64.1 59.8 75.8 48.7 32.2 17.2 1661-2 68.5 60.1 81.1 50.8 36.1 9.2 7723-4 70.0 61.5 79.2 52.9 37.4 11.7 5705+ 66.5 62.6 81.0 51.5 34.2 9.5 554ResidenceUrban 74.9 69.5 78.6 62.2 48.1 12.0 542Rural 65.6 58.1 80.7 47.5 31.2 10.1 1,520RegionHhohho 69.6 58.8 79.5 53.2 36.9 10.6 600Manzini 71.7 64.7 81.1 57.0 41.5 10.6 650Shiselweni 67.4 61.6 79.1 53.8 36.5 12.6 363Lubombo 61.1 58.6 80.3 38.9 24.7 9.1 449EducationNo education 66.6 60.7 78.5 47.2 33.7 10.1 385Lower primary 59.9 52.8 78.2 52.3 28.4 12.1 253Higher primary 70.1 59.7 81.4 48.6 32.5 9.0 467Secondary 72.0 62.5 84.4 55.8 39.0 8.5 478High school 65.0 64.7 77.1 50.6 38.1 14.4 338Tertiary 73.1 68.7 76.1 57.4 46.8 13.1 142Wealth quintileLowest 60.1 50.3 75.4 42.3 25.7 12.8 353Second 65.7 56.3 80.2 43.0 28.1 11.4 369Middle 67.3 57.7 78.8 50.0 32.2 12.1 379Fourth 68.2 63.7 79.5 53.9 36.7 10.3 424Highest 75.3 71.9 84.5 62.1 48.9 7.8 537Total 68.0 61.1 80.1 51.4 35.6 10.6 2,062Women’s Empowerment and Demographic and Health Outcomes | 249