DISSAROJANA, SUDSAWAT; PHD

                         UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA, 1982

                         SOCIOLOGY, DEMOGRAPHY (0938)
 

                         The study examines an association between the household context and women's work, based on the
                         Indonesian experience. With a sexual division of labor, women take supportive roles and tend to work as
                         secondary income earners if they are involved in economic activity. Family and social systems have a
                         strong influence on women's behavior, especially in confining women within the housekeeping and
                         childcaring context. The Indonesian women, however, have high economic responsibilities, and
                         Indonesia seems to be an unique example among Moslem countries. Nevertheless, the economic
                         activity of Indonesian women is largely determined by family factors, particularly household economic
                         pressure. The study concentrates on examining households in which women live. Among women,
                         female heads have the highest economically active proportions, while wives are second. The status as a
                         daughter in a male-headed household does not appear to entail much economic obligation, but a
                         daughter in a female-headed household tends to take economic responsibilities comparable to those of
                         the wife in a male-headed household. If household economic pressure is defined by number of children
                         present in a household, it does not have a direct effect on women's labor force participation. With a given
                         household size and a given number of household member s employed, however, female labor force
                         participation is positively associated with number of children. This pattern is true for all levels of
                         urbanization. The household not only supplies its members to the labor force to earn income to satisfy its
                         consumption needs, but also provides jobs to many of its members. A large part of the Indonesian
                         economy consists of the traditional sector where most household heads are self-employed. Household
                         members, especially females, tend to work at home as unpaid family workers. As a result, the head's
                         employment tends to have a significant impact on the employment structure of household members in
                         general, and of female members in particular.

Social Systems Simulation Group P.O. Box 6904 San Diego, CA  92166-0904 Roland Werner, Principal Phone/FAX  (619) 660-1603