ABSTRACT
This conclusion presents some closing thoughts on the concepts covered in the preceding chapters of this book. The book examines the impact of women’s employment on family-based households in a particular setting in order to explore its implications for women’s autonomy. It argues that there can be no general answer to these questions because the terms upon which women enter the labour force and engage in employment are variable, are subject to gender disadvantage, and operate differentially among women. The book also argues that the terms of the debate need to be widened, first to include women’s access to a range of resources, of which the wage is only one; and second, to encompass a historical understanding of different social constructions of female dependency. The workplace may be fetishized as the site of economic rationality. It is also premised upon gender divisions. Reconceptualizing the family/economy split helps to overcome the false dualism implied in opposing ‘family’ values to ‘market’ values.
