The document investigates marriage among young adults, focusing on their expectations and the division of responsibilities within marriages, particularly in the Indian context. It highlights traditional gender roles and decision-making power dynamics, revealing that women often bear the brunt of household responsibilities despite economic contributions. The study suggests a growing need for equitable sharing of responsibilities and improved satisfaction in marital relationships to address increasing divorce rates.

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3. CONTENTS
I INTRODUCTION
II REVIEW OF LITERATURE
III METHODOLOGY
IV RESULT AND DISCUSSION
V SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION
VI REFERENCES
VII APPENDIX
VIII ACKNOWLEDGEMENT AND CERTIFICATE

4. Aim-To understands the concept of marriage among young adults and investigates their
expectations from the institution of marriage.
INTRODUCTION
Marriage- Marriage is a process by which two people make their relationship public, official
and permanent. Marriage remains an important social institution across the world despite the
evolution over time in the basic parameters that constitute it. But in India Marriages are still
being arranged by families and follow patriarchal gender roles. Marriage in Indian context is
considered as a bond which stays forever, even after rebirth. It results in a more or less
permanent relationship between a man and a woman. Its aim is not merely physical pleasure but
spiritual advancement (Gupta, S. 2015).
Roles and responsibilities were clearly defined in Indian marriages. Jayaji Krishna Nath, and
Vishwarath R. Nayar wrote in the Encyclopaedia of Sexuality: “While it is mostly the husbands
who are breadwinners, the women generally take care of the household activities, besides
bearing and rearing children”. Decision making power of the house generally stayed with the
males.
Decision Making- Decision making is a term here very often used, to describe the process by
which families make choices, determine judgments and come to conclusions. The family
decision making process is a communication activity. It is an unavoidable, daily process.
Families are confronted with a variety of decisions, including the purchase of products, the
selection of educational practices, and the choice of recreational activities and so on. Power is
rooted in tradition, codified by custom and sanctioned by norms.
Women constitute an important part of society and their status determines the level of progress
attained by society in real terms. It is almost universally accepted that traditionally women’s
position in all societies has been one of general subordination to man. Their primary role was
that of a home maker and it was for the man to provide subsistence to his family.
The family particularly Hindu family throughout India had a basic pattern, which was caste
based and patriarchal in nature. In traditional patriarchal family, the eldest male member was the
head of the family and he used to take all the decisions on family matters. Women in family had
a very inferior position compared to their male counterparts. They were economically dependent
on their husbands, which did not allow them to gain a position of authority in the family structure
as well as in the social structure.
The changing socio-economic conditions, particularly after independence, have widened
opportunities for women’s education and employment in particular, empowering them to assume
responsible and decision making and financial independence in the world, so far dominated by
men. The degree varies with the gender system and their culture, the status of class, caste,
community or religious sect to which they belong. Although, it is agreed that education,

5. occupational status, income are the significant resources for women which provide a power base
with which they can acquire decision making power, but the same perspective doesn’t hold true
in all Indian families where power is not defined strictly in terms of resources. The patriarchal
norms entail husband with all the decision making power irrespective of resources he possesses.
Women in many cases are unable to translate their earning into power. In many Indian families
till today, women equally share economic burden of families but, they are actually without any
decision making power.
Even before Nobel Prize winner Gary Becker decided to analyze marriage as a market made up
of scarce resources, couples have faced balancing formal employment (working for money) and
managing a family and home (working for no money). Should the partner with the less-
demanding job leave every day to get the kids from day care, or will that actually hamper that
person’s future career prospects, and perpetuate the imbalance in household responsibilities?
Who stays home when a kid is sick, manages homework and bedtime, and cooks the endless
meals children require? That might seem logical, or it might seem wildly unfair.
To understand how the roles and responsibilities in marriage changed over time and influenced
the chance of divorce, Killewald compared couples married in 1974 or later. The findings
showed that in couples married before 1974 —who might have more traditional views on the
division of labor between spouses in the workforce and at home than couples married more
recently — the share of housework done by the wife was tied to the risk of divorce. For example,
in these couples, wives who did 75 percent of the housework were less likely to divorce than
wives who did 50 percent of the housework, according to the findings.
This result shows that couples' expectations for their marriages may conform to a society's
expectations for what it means to be "a good wife," Killewald said. But even in more recently
married couples, the study found that women were still doing the majority of housework,
although men were expected to pitch in more and typically did. However, husbands in the more-
recently married couples who did not have full-time employment faced a higher risk of
divorce than husbands who worked full time, according to the findings. Taken together, the
findings suggest that although women in contemporary marriages may have more role flexibility
when deciding whether to seek full-time work outside the home or focus on household work,
without it affecting the stability of their marriage, this is not the case for men.
Not only it’s about financial contribution to the family budget, but also the fact that every
individual feel to have a sense of achievement and a right to follow their dreams. But, in a lot of
cases the household chores are still left to the female irrespective of whether she has a full-time
job. With this increasing workload on women, marriages have started to fail and the number of
divorce cases is increasing rapidly in India. There is an urgent need to address this issue and look
for possible solutions. The aim of this study is the same, with hope to have a society with a
greater number of good and positive relationships, where both individuals are respected and
treated well by their spouse.

6. So there is a need to study that how much responsibilities are shared by
husbands and what kind of decision making power is given to the wives. And most important
how much are they satisfied with their relationship.

7. II REVIEW OF LITERATURE
Luke et al., 2014 studied husbands’ participation in housework and child care in India among tea
plantation workers in India, where women comprise the main part of the workforce and are
breadwinners in their families. Analysis of 49 semi structured interviews and survey data from
3,181 female workers revealed that although women were mainly responsible for domestic labor,
more than half of husbands usually or sometimes helped their wives with cooking and child care.
These results showed that patterns of bargaining and gender display will vary depending on the
gendered nature of housework tasks within a particular society.
Cerrato and Cifre, 2018 observed that involvement of married couples in household activities.
Forty percent female and 33 percent male did shop for their home. Ten percent female and 67
percent male were responsible for domestic repair. Thirty five percent female and 7 percent male
helped their children with homework. Thus, results show that traditional gender roles still affect
the way men and women manage the work and family interaction, although the increased Work
Family Conflict due to involvement in housework is not exclusive to women, but also occurs in
men.
The influence of the division of household labor and decision making on relationship satisfaction
was examined by Dekkers, T.D. They suggest that equality in the division of household labor
was found to have significant effects on relationship satisfaction.
Qian and Sayer, 2015 examined associations of marital satisfaction with divisions of housework
and gender ideology in four East Asian societies: urban China, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan.
Multivariate analyses showed that relative share of housework were negatively associated with
marital satisfaction for Japanese and Korean men and for Korean and Taiwanese women.
Egalitarian gender ideology was significantly associated with lower marital satisfaction only
among Taiwanese women.
Carlson and lynch 2013 surveyed on married couples to assess the causal relationship between
housework and gender ideology. Results show a mutual and reciprocal relationship between the
division of housework and gender ideology for both husbands' and wives'. Reciprocity is
strongest for husbands while for wives the relationship is partially indirect and mediated through
their husbands' gender ideologies.
Khawaja and Habib 2007 examined the association between husbands' involvement in
housework and the psychosocial health of their wives using data on married couples living in
poor neighborhoods in Beirut, Lebanon. Husbands' involvement in housework was negatively
associated with wives' psychological distress, marital dissatisfaction, and overall unhappiness
after adjustment for relevant risk factors. In comparison with wives whose husbands were highly
involved in housework, wives whose husbands were minimally involved were 1.60 times more

8. likely to be distressed, 2.96 times more likely to be uncomfortable with their husbands, and 2.69
times more likely to be unhappy.

9. III METHODOLOGY
The study consisted of 15 couples which are selected randomly. The universe was married
adults, male and female between the ages of 31- 43 years who are working and have one or more
kids. The study pertained to understand the views of young adults about the concept of marriage
and to investigate the expectation that young adult have from the marriage institution as well as
to know satisfaction level. A questionnaire with multiple choices was prepared by using google
docs. Questions were asked in three segments, the first about division of labor in daily household
activity, the second about the decision making rights and third were about satisfaction in
relationship. Link was sent through WhatsApp. Answers were recorded and analyzed using a
frequency distribution table.

10. IV RESULT AND DISCUSSION
A sample of 30 people, broken down as 15 males and 15 females was taken. Questions were
asked in three segments, the first about division of labor in daily household activity, the second
about the decision making rights and third were about satisfaction in relationship.
Questions regarding division of labour in daily household activities
Fig. 1: Who cooks food for the family usually?
Eighty two percent female said that they cooked food for the family and 77 percent male accepted that
their wives cook food for the family. Whereas 23 percent male and 12 percent female were stated that
anybody could cooked according to situation. Only 6 percent replied that they took paid help.
Fig. 2: Who shops the grocery and other household arrangements?
0.0%
77.0%
23.0%
0.0%
0.0%
82.0%
0.0%
12.0%
6.0%
0.0%
0.0% 20.0% 40.0% 60.0% 80.0%100.0%
Me
My spouse
Flexible according to situation
Paid help
Other family member
Female
Male
0.0%
20.0%
40.0%
60.0%
38.0%
15.0%
46.0%
0.0% 0.0%
12.0%
41.0% 41.0%
0.0%
6.0%
Male
Female

11. Thirty eight percent male and 12 percent female responded that they did shop for home. 15 percent male
and 41 percent female admitted that they bought for the home. 46 percent male and 41 percent female
said that anybody could buy grocery. Only 6 percent said that this could be done by other family member.
Fig. 3: Who takes the responsibilities of child's school home work?
Seventy six percent female said that they took responsibility for the home work whereas 12 percent said
that their spouse took responsibility of the homework of children while 85 percent male admitted that
their wives took responsibility for the home work. Seven percent male and 12 percent female answered
that who would be responsible for homework this was flexible according to situation.
Fig. 4: Who take care when child is not well?
0.0%
10.0%
20.0%
30.0%
40.0%
50.0%
60.0%
70.0%
80.0%
90.0%
Me My
spouse
Flexible
according
to
situation
Paid help Other
family
member
8.0%
85.0%
7.0%
0.0% 0.0%
76.0%
12.0% 12.0%
0.0% 0.0%
Male
Female
0.0%
31.0%
69.0%
0.0% 0.0%
35.0%
6.0%
59.0%
0.0% 0.0%
0.0%
10.0%
20.0%
30.0%
40.0%
50.0%
60.0%
70.0%
80.0%
Me My spouse Flexible
according
to situation
Paid help Other
family
member
Male
Female

12. Thirty five percent female replied that they are the only one who take care children when they were ill
while 6 percent female stated that their spouse took responsibility when children were ill. 31 percent male
admitted that my spouse took care of child when he was not well. 59 percent female and 69 percent male
answered that who would take care of child it was flexible according to situation.
Fig. 5: Who is usually responsible for the work related repair and maintenance of the household?
Sixty nine percent male told that they were responsible for the work related repair and maintenance while
only 12 percent female said that were responsible for the work related repair and maintenance. 53 percent
female accepted that their spouse were responsible for the repair work where as some male (15 percent)
also said their spouse were responsible for maintenance of household. 23 female and 8 percent male said
that it was not fixed that who were responsible for repair work. 12 percent female and 8 percent male
stated that other family member did that work usually.
Fig. 6: Who is usually responsible for the bill payments?
0.0%
10.0%
20.0%
30.0%
40.0%
50.0%
60.0%
70.0%
Me My
spouse
Flexible
according
to
situation
Paid help Other
family
member
69.0%
15.0%
8.0%
0.0%
8.0%
12.0%
53.0%
23.0%
0.0%
12.0%
Male
Female
0.0%
10.0%
20.0%
30.0%
40.0%
50.0%
60.0%
70.0%
80.0% 69.0%
8.0%
23.0%
0.0% 0.0%
18.0%
71.0%
6.0%
0.0%
6.0% Male
Female

13. In the answer of this question that who is usually responsible for the bill payments 69 percent male and 18
percent female said that was me. As usual 71 percent female and 8 percent male said my spouse were
responsible for payments. 23 percent male and 6 percent female replied that according to situation that
work would be handled. Only 6 percent female took help from other family member.
Questions regarding the decision making rights
Fig. 7: If there is a need to take decision about your profession who will be the prime decision
maker
Forty one percent female and 31 percent male took the decision about their profession themselves. While
69 percent male and 59 percent female replied that we took decision about their profession together.
Fig. 8: Who takes decision related to child education?
Male, 31.0%
Male, 0.0%
69.0%
Male, 0.0%
Female, 41.0%
Female, 0.0%
Female, 59.0%
Female, 0.0%
Me
My spouse
Both of us
Other family member
0.0%
15.0%
85.0%
0.0%
Male
23.0%
0.0%
76.0%
0.0%
Female
Me
My spouse
Both of us
Other family
member

14. Twenty three percent female took the decision about child education. 15 percent male said that their
spouse took decision about child education. While 85 percent male and 76 percent female replied that
both of us took decision about child education together.
Fig. 9: Who takes decision related to health care and doctor?
Eighteen percent male said that they took the decision about health care and doctor. 15 percent male and 6
percent female said that their spouse took decision about health care and doctor. While 85 percent male
and 76 percent female replied that both of us took decision about health care and doctor together.
Fig. 10: Who decides about the financial investment?
Forty six percent male and 6 percent female said that they took the decision about investment. 47 percent
female said that their spouse took decision about financial investment. While 46 percent male and 41
0.0%
10.0%
20.0%
30.0%
40.0%
50.0%
60.0%
70.0%
80.0%
90.0%
Me My spouse Both of us Other family
member
0.0%
15.0%
85.0%
0.0%
18.0%
6.0%
76.0%
0.0%
Male
Female
0.0%
10.0%
20.0%
30.0%
40.0%
50.0%
60.0%
70.0%
80.0%
90.0%
Me My spouse Both of us Other family
member
46.0%
0.0%
46.0%
8.0%
6.0%
47.0%
41.0%
6.0%
Female
Male

15. percent female replied that both of us took decision about financial investment together.8 percent male
and 6 percent female admit that financial decisions were taken by other family member.
Fig. 11: Who takes decision about day to day purchase goods?
Thirty one percent male and 29 percent female said that they took the decision about day to day purchase
goods. 12 percent female and 31 percent male said that their spouse took decision about day to day
shopping for home. While 31 percent male and 53 percent female replied that both of us took decision
about day to day purchase goods together. 8 percent male and 6 percent female admit that decisions of
day to day purchase goods were taken by other family member.
Fig. 12: Who takes decision about purchasing big value e.g. home, car etc?
Thirty eight percent male said that they took the decision about purchasing of big value. 29 percent
female said that their spouse took decision about purchasing of big value. While 54 percent male and 65
percent female replied that both of us took decision about purchasing of big value together. 8 percent
Male
Female
0.0%
10.0%
20.0%
30.0%
40.0%
50.0%
60.0%
Me
My
spouse
Both of us
Other
family
member
31.0% 31.0% 31.0%
8.0%
29.0%
12.0%
53.0%
6.0%
Male
Female
0.0%
29.0%
65.0%
6.0%
Female
Me
My spouse
Both of us
Other family
member
38.0%
0.0%
54.0%
8.0%
Male
Me
My spouse
Both of us
Other family
member

16. male and 6 percent female admit that decisions about purchasing of big value were taken by other family
members.
Question regarding satisfaction in relationship
Fig. 13: Are you satisfied by the division of responsibilities in your family?
Sixty six percent male and 65 percent female replied that they were satisfied by the division of
responsibilities in the family. 15 percent male and 29 percent female stated that they were
satisfied by this division of responsibility to some extent. While only 8 percent male and 6 percent
female were admitted that they were not so satisfied by this division of responsibility in their family.
Fig. 14: Are you satisfied by the division of power of decision making in your family?
0.0%
10.0%
20.0%
30.0%
40.0%
50.0%
60.0%
70.0%
80.0%
Fully
satisfied
To some
extent
Not so
satisfied
not at all
77.0%
15.0%
8.0%
0.0%
65.0%
29.0%
6.0%
0.0%
Male
Female
0.0%
10.0%
20.0%
30.0%
40.0%
50.0%
60.0%
70.0%
80.0%
Fully
satisfied
To some
extent
Not so
satisfied
not at all
69.0%
31.0%
0.0% 0.0%
71.0%
29.0%
0.0% 0.0%
Male
Female

17. Sixty nine percent male and 71 percent female replied that they were satisfied by the division of
power of decision making in the family. 31 percent male and 29 percent female stated that they
were satisfied by this division of power of decision making to some extent.
Fig. 15: Are you emotionally satisfied with the relationship between you and your spouse?
Seventy seven percent male and 82 percent female replied that they were emotionally satisfied
with the relationship between them and their spouse. 23 percent male and 12 percent female
stated that they were emotionally satisfied with the relationship between them and their spouse to
some extent. While only 6 percent female were admitted that they were not so emotionally satisfied
with the relationship between them and their spouse.
0.0%
10.0%
20.0%
30.0%
40.0%
50.0%
60.0%
70.0%
80.0%
90.0%
Fully
satisfied
To some
extent
Not so
satisfied
not at all
77.0%
23.0%
0.0% 0.0%
82.0%
12.0%
6.0%
0.0%
Male
Female

18. V SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION
On conducting this study with a small sample size accurate result cannot be achieved. But view
of some people can be understood.
Majority of female according to the study, believe that they are doing work like cooking, helping
child with their homework. Majority of male admit this that my wives are doing that work. They
can do well that work. But when the child is sick then majority of couple say that according to
situation they take care of child. Some male tell that my wives take care of child when it get ill.
Work related to bill payments and repair in household are usually done by male. This is accepted
by both. But in grocery shopping for home about half of female say my husband do this job
while about half of male and female reply that according to situation anybody can do shop of
grocery.
When we talk about decision about profession then majority of male and female believe that they
take the decision about their profession themselves. No female is such that who says that their
husbands take decision about their profession. Majority of couple say that the both of us take
decision about child education and healthcare and doctor. While financial decisions are made by
either male or both of them. Only female are not allowed to take financial decision. Majority of
female reply that both of us decide about purchasing of day to day goods. Majority of male nd
female admit that the both together decide about purchasing big values like car, home etc. there
is also some female who has not power to decide about purchasing big values.
When we talk about satisfaction in relationship, division of responsibility and decision making
power that is given to them then majority of couple are satisfied by the all activities that are
happening in home. This is a good symptom for the stability of marriage. This is due to their
values that are taught to them. They have accepted that household work should be done by
female and outdoor work and work related to money should be done by male.
Roles and responsibilities were clearly defined in ancient Indian marriages. The husbands were
the earning members; the women generally take care of the household activities and rearing
children. Decision making power of the house generally stayed with the males. In modern time
female are educated and working. But the values that are given to male and female by their
family are in spite of work female have to do all household work. In patriarchal society
household work that is done by female are usually considered inferior. In many Indian families
till today, women equally share economic burden of families but, they are actually without any
decision making power.
So my research conclude that we can only try to change the value of young adult but it may leads
to conflict. But we can teach to next generation that everybody should be self depend. If earning
is important for life then household work are equally important. Female should be taught their
rights of share of responsibility and decision making. Numbers of divorce cases are increasing
day by day in view of that need of good family counselor are increasing.

19. VI REFERENCES
Luke, N., Xu, H., & Thampi, B.V. (2014). Husbands’ participation in housework and child care
in India. J Marriage Fam., 76(3), 620–637.
Cerrato, J., & Cifre E. (2018). Gender inequality in household chores and work-family conflict.
Front Psychol., 9, 1330.
Dekkers, T.D., (2007). The relationship of decision-making and division of household labor to
relationship satisfaction. Retrospective Theses and Dissertations. 15024.
Qian, Y., & Sayer, L.C. (2015). Division of labor, gender ideology, and marital satisfaction in
east Asia. Journal of Marriage and Family, 78(2).
Carlson, D.L. , & Lynch J. L. (2013). Housework: Cause and consequence of gender ideology?
Soc. Sci. Res., 42(6), 1505-18.
Khawaja, M., & Habib, R.R. (2007). Husbands' involvement in housework and women's
psychosocial health: Findings from a population-based study in Lebanon. Am. J. Public Health,
97(5), 860-6.
Killewald, A. (2016). Money, Work, and Marital Stability: Assessing Change in the Gendered
Determinants of Divorce. American Sociological Review, 81, (4).
Gupta, S., (2015). Marriage in India, HNLU Raipur,
https://www.lawctopus.com/academike/marriage-india/

20. VII APPENDIX
Aim- To understand the concept of marriage among young adults and investigate their expectations from
the institution of marriage..
Research questionnaire
I, , am conducting a research to understand the responsibilities and power shared by
young couple in marriage institution. Please fill the questionnaire below to help me in data collection.
General information
1. Name
2. Spouse name
3. Age
4. Gender
5. Your profession
6. Type of marriage
 Love marriage
 Arrange marriage
Questions regarding division of labour in daily household activities
7. Who cook food for the family usually?
 Me
 My spouse
 Paid help
 Flexible according to situation
 Other family member
8. Who shops the grocery and other household arrangements?
 Me
 My spouse
 Paid help
 Flexible according to situation
 Other family member
9. Who takes the responsibilities of child's school home work?
 Me
 My spouse
 Paid help
 Other family member
 Flexible according to situation

21. 10. Who take care when child is not well?
 Me
 My spouse
 Paid help
 Flexible according to situation
 Other family member
11. Who is usually responsible for the work related repair and maintenance of the household?
 Me
 My spouse
 Paid help
 Flexible according to situation
 Other family member
12. Who is usually responsible for the bill payments?
 Me
 My spouse
 Paid help
 Flexible according to situation
 Other family member
Question related to rights of decision making
13. If there is a need to take decision about your profession who will be the prime decision
maker
 Me
 My spouse
 Both of us
 Other
14. Who takes decision related to child education?
 Me
 My spouse
 Both of us
 Other
15. Who takes decision related to health care and doctor?
 Me
 My spouse
 Both of us

22.  Other
16. Who decides about the financial investment?
 Me
 My spouse
 Both of us
 Other
17. Who takes decision about day to day purchase goods?
 Me
 My spouse
 Both of us
 Other
18. Who takes decision about big value e.g. home, car etc?
 Me
 My spouse
 Both of us
 Other
Satisfaction in relationship
19. Are you satisfied by the division of responsibilities in your family?
 Fully satisfied
 to some extent
 not so satisfied
 Not at all
20. Are you satisfied by the division of power of decision making in your family?
 Fully satisfied
 To some extent
 Not so satisfied
 Not at all
21. Are you emotionally satisfied with the relationship between you and your spouse?
 Fully satisfied
 To some extent
 Not so satisfied
 Not at all

23. VIII ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Gratitude can not be seen or expressed, it can only be felt in heart and is beyond description. First of
all, I express my heartiest gratitude to the ‘Almighty God’ for ‘His’ blessing at every step without
which nothing could have been accomplished. I am thankful to my guide professor
I am greatly obliged to participants whose worthy participation makes my investigation successful.
Lastly I would like to thanks my lovely family member.
CERTIFICATE
Certified that the Project entitled ........................................................................... submitted by
................................................................ .is his/her own work and has been done under my supervision.
It is recommended that this Project be placed before the examiner for evaluation.
(Signature of the Academic Supervisor)
Name :
Address :
Study Centre: ............................................................................
Regional Centre: .......................................................................
Date: .....................................................