Dual Burden of Women in Middle-Class Families: Analysing the Intersection of Empowerment and Exploitation in Work and Domestic Roles

Abstract

Increasingly, middle-class women are actively engaged in the professional and domestic arenas, which begs the question of their dual obligation. In this paper, we will examine whether it is a form of empowerment or exploitation. Through a mixed-method study, the data was taken from 200 working women from Lucknow’s middle class with average monthly income between INR 25,000 and INR 60,000. The studies focus on social-cultural values, economic outputs, psychological and physical health effects, and workplace and policy intervention. We used statistical measures such as descriptive statistics and regression analysis to analyse the results. Results find significant associations between dual responsibility and physical fatigue, inadequate career mobility and social norms. Yet for some women, financial gifts gave empowerment and household decision-making. It finds that while employment is financial independence, the absence of systemic care makes the double burden even more heavy, tilting the scales more toward exploitation than empowerment. Policies should focus on better flexibility in the workplace, fair domestic role-sharing and state-led redress.