Are the Working Women in the Organized Sector Economically Empowered? A Discussion on the Working Women in Kolkata, India

Abstract

A Sustainable development of a city, following the Agenda 2030, depends on the how the economy, society, environment economically empowering women. The right or the power of women to make decisions regarding the utilization of financial resources is indirectly beneficial to develop their selves, families and then communities (Care, 2024). Following Golla et al., 2016 economic empowerment of women is one of the best methods to reach their full potential as it benefits the family and also the economy as a whole.  According to Pereznieto and Taylor (2014), economic empowerment encompasses four primary areas: power within, power to, power over, and power with. Women Economic Empowerment (WEE) includes access to money and property, control over income and the authority to make decisions. The measurement of women economic empowerment is not only difficult and multifaceted, but these characteristics also appear in various ways in various cultural contexts (Zhongming et al 2020). To analyze scenario of the economic decision-making in respect of sustainable development the primary objective of this study is to estimate the Women Economic Empowerment index (WEEI) for the working women engaged in the organized sector in Kolkata, India. A predesigned questionnaire, based on the variables selected from literature review, is used to collect the primary data. WEEI is calculated following the Human Development Index (HDI). Work experience, age, years of education, marital status, income has positive impact on WEEI in Kolkata, India.