Curse of the Mummy-ji: The Influence of Mothers-in-Law on Women in India

S Anukriti, Catalina Herrera-Almanza (c.herreraalmanza@neu.edu), Mahesh Karra (mvkarra@bu.edu) and Praveen Pathak (pkpathak@jmi.ac.in)
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Catalina Herrera-Almanza: Northeastern University
Mahesh Karra: Boston University
Praveen Pathak: Jamia Millia Islamia

No dp-337, Boston University - Department of Economics - The Institute for Economic Development Working Papers Series from Boston University - Department of Economics

Abstract: Restrictive social norms and strategic constraints imposed by family members can limit women’s access to and benefits from social networks, especially in patrilocal societies. We characterize young married women’s social networks in rural India and analyze how inter-generational power dynamics within the household affect their network formation. Using primary data from Uttar Pradesh, we show that co-residence with the mother-in-law is negatively correlated with her daughter-in-law’s mobility and ability to form social connections outside the household, especially those related to health, fertility, and family planning. Our findings suggest that the mother-in-law’s restrictive behavior is potentially driven by the misalignment of fertility preferences between the mother-in-law and the daughter-in-law. The lack of peers outside the household lowers the daughter-in-law’s likelihood of visiting a family planning clinic and of using modern contraception. We find suggestive evidence that this is because outside peers (1) positively influence daughter-in-law’s beliefs about the social acceptability of family planning and (2) enable the daughter-in-law to overcome mobility constraints by accompanying her to health clinics.

Keywords: family planning; India; mobility; mother-in-law; reproductive health; social networks (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J12 J13 J16 O15 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 60 pages
Date: 2020-04
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-dev and nep-soc
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (23)

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