Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities
Articles Information
Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vol.6, No.3, Sep. 2020, Pub. Date: Jun. 29, 2020
The Shift in Gender Roles and Household Wellbeing in Rural and Urban Ghana
Pages: 138-146 Views: 1165 Downloads: 279
Authors
[01] Bernice Wadei, Department of Geography and Rural Development, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana.
[02] Kwame Ansong Wadei, School of Management and Economics, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, China.
Abstract
Gender roles and relations play a critical part in development processes. However, gender stereotyping over the years generated the conventional gender division of labour which gave men exclusive rights over productive resources often to the disadvantage of women. Presently, however, gender roles have changed and are still changing, giving way to a shift in gender roles; a movement away from gender stereotyping to a more equal and all-inclusive society. Wellbeing is a multidimensional concept that encompasses many aspects of human lives. Tracking the improvement in human wellbeing over time is critical to monitoring the progress of development programmes. The current change in gender roles is perceived to have both positive and negative ramifications on people’s general wellbeing. This paper therefore sought to investigate how the shift in gender roles has affected household wellbeing in rural and urban spaces in Ghana. The mixed-method approach was used with questionnaire administration to 400 households, in-depth interviews, and focus group discussions. Wellbeing is operationalised in this paper to include material conditions (income, job earnings, and housing), quality of life (health status, educational skills, social connections, personal security), happiness (expression of joy and satisfaction) and self-worth (the feeling of being useful and appreciated). The quality of life, happiness, self-worth, and material conditions of households were subsequently found to have improved due to equal access to productive resources by both men and women. Development players and policymakers must therefore seek to economically empower both men and women to have equal access to productive resources and make improved household wellbeing sustainable.
Keywords
Shift in Gender Roles, Wellbeing, Happiness, Gender Roles, Stereotyping
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