The India Patriarchy Index is a 12-item measure capturing aspects of domination of men over women, domination of the older generation over the younger generation, patrilocality, socio-economic domination and son preference. It covers aspects of patriarchy linked to spheres of nuptiality and age at marriage, living arrangements, post marital residence, power relations within the domestic group, position of the elderly, sex of the offspring and position of women in terms of their higher education and professional work. The measure has been adapted from the Patriarchy Index, used in Europe.
Geographies Tested: India
Populations Included: Female
Age Range: Adolescents, Adults
Male domination
1. Total number of female headed households divided by total number of household heads
2. Total number of ever married young brides age 15-19 divided by total number of ever married women age 15-19
3. Total number of wives who are older than their husband divided by total number of couples for whom the ages of both partners are known
Generational domination
4. Total number of elderly men living in a household headed by a male household head of a younger generation divided by total number of elderly men having at least one child
5. Total number of ever married men household heads age 20-29 divided by total number of ever married men age 20-29
6. Total number of elderly people (age 60+) living with at least two married sons in the same household divided by total number of elderly people (age 60+)
Patrilocality
7. Total number of elderly people (age 60+) living with at least one married daughter divided by total number of elderly people (age 60+) living with at least one married child in the same household
Son preference
8. Total number of boys among last children divided by total number of last births
9. Total number of male children (0-6 years)*100 divided by total number of female children age (0-6 years)
10. Total number of women age 15-49 who reported higher ideal number of sons than daughters divided by total number of women age 15-49
Socio-economic domination
11. Total number of wives who are more educated than their husband divided by total number of couples for whom the years of schooling of both partners are known
12. Total number of women of working age engaged in professional work divided by total number of women of working age
Response Options:
Not applicable
Index points (ranging between 0 and 10) are calculated for each variable by dividing the proportion for each state by the highest proportion seen among the states included in the analysis and multiplying by 10. For the variables negatively correlated with patriarchy, the field is subtracted from 10. For variables within the son preference domain, the index point is the proportion for the state minus the defined minimum value, divided by the highest proportion seen among the states included in the analysis subtracted by the defined minimum value. That value is multiplied by 10.
Index points are summed to get the index point of each of the 5 domains. Lower scores represent lower degrees of patriarchy. Index points of each domain are summed to create the India Patriarchy Index. Full scoring details can be found here.
Singh, A., Chokhandre, P., Singh, A. K., Barker, K. M., Kumar, K., McDougal, L., James, K. S., & Raj, A. (2021). Development of the India Patriarchy Index: Validation and testing of temporal and spatial patterning. Social Indicators Research. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-021-02752-1
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