Status and Determinants of Women’s Participation in Household Decision Making in Ethiopia

Abstract

Women’s participation in household decision making has a pivotal role to the development of countries. At a national level, studying the status of women’s participation in household decision making and its determinants is necessary to devise policies and take immediate measures to empower women. Therefore, this study was aimed at assessing the status and determinants of women’s
participation in household decision making in Ethiopia. A cross-sectional study based on data from
the 2016 Ethiopian Demographic and Health Survey (EDHS) program was employed. The sample
was limited on married women (N=3676) and analyzed through binary logistic regression. The
finding revealed that the majority (63.87%) of women were found relatively in a good position of
participation in household decision making. Education and employment were positively associated
with their participation. Women who never fear their husbands (AOR=1.391;95%CI=1.196,1.618)
and women who did not refuse sexual intercourse (AOR=1.384;95%CI=1.192,1.606) were more
likely participate in household decision making. There were variations of women’s participation in household decision making as to religious affiliation and geographical location. In conclusion, the status of women’s participation in household decision making in Ethiopia is relatively
good albeit taking some proper interventions are still necessary to address the existing gaps.