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Quality of life of Selected Tribal Women in Tiruvallur District

Janani.M.*and Kaveri.R.**

Abstract: India has the largest tribal population in the world. Tribe is a social group with
affiliation, endogamous with no specialisation of functions. Tribal women play a crucial
and vital role in all kinds of economic and productive activities. The improvement in the
quality of life of the tribals is of utmost importance first for the individual and then for the
nation. The quality of life of selected 150 tribal women of various age groups was studied.
The selected tribal women were interviewed using a questionnaire. Quality of Life Scale,
Kalliath Socio Economic Inventory and Satisfaction with Life Scale were also used to
assess the women. The results revealed that majority of tribal women were living in tribal
areas away from the village. Greater percentage of tribal women lived in their own houses
and a smaller percent of them lived in rented houses. Majority of women were illiterates.
Most of the women were working in private concerns as labourers and domestic workers.
Majority of tribal women had total family monthly income around Rs. 2000 to Rs. 3000.
Majority of the families had additional income.

The selected tribal women of three different tribal groups such as Irulas, Enathis
and Kondareddys were found to have low socio economic status and low level of quality of
life. Government provides many opportunities for the upliftment of their society. The tribal
women need to be made aware of all the tribal welfare schemes for raising their quality of
life.

*Student, M.Phil., Family Resource Management,Queen Mary’s college,Chennai.

**Selection Grade lecturer, Department of Home Science, Queen Mary’s college,Chennai.
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Introduction
The status of women in a society is a significant reflection of the level of social
justice in that society. Women’s status is often described in terms of their level of income,
employment, education, health and fertility as well as the roles they play within the family,
community and society.

Tribal women are considered to be a weaker section of the society. Tribal women
have three distinctive roles in society-reproductive, productive and community
management. Child rearing is the most effective role for tribal women in all aspects of
economic development. Tribal women play crucial and vital role in all kinds of economic
productive activities and constitute more than half of the labour force (Rao, 2005).
Therefore the researcher has attempted to study the quality of life of the tribal women to
find out the socio economic status and cultural barriers on quality of life. The researcher
has also attempted to find out how effectively the quality of life affects life satisfaction.

Materials and Methods

The present study was conducted among selected tribal women in Tiruvallur
district. About 150 married tribal women of varying ages were selected by purposive
sampling. The study involved ex-post facto research. The tools used for the study was
questionnaire and interview schedule. The questionnaire consisted of various parts such as
demographic profile, dietary practices and cultural aspects. The interview schedule
consisted of Quality of Life Scale, Kalliath Socio Economic Inventory and Satisfaction
with Life Scale. The data collected were analysed statistically using ANOVA Duncan’s
multiple range test,‘t’ test, correlation and regression. The findings are summarised and
presented below.

Results and discussion

The major findings of the study are presented in tables 1 to 8 and the results are
discussed below.

The tribal women were in the age group of 20-30 years and 31-40 years whereas
17.3 percent were in the age group of 41-50 years. Only 10.7 percent of the women were
above the age of 50 years. Majority (80.7 percent) of the tribal women was living in away
from the village, and 19.3 percent of the women were living in the village. Nearly 87
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percent of the tribal women were illiterates while 10.7 percent of the women had primary
education. Only 2.7 percent of the women were educated up to higher secondary level.

Majority (86.7 percent) of the tribal women were married and illiterates. While
98.0 percent of the tribal women living in their own houses only 2.0 percent lived in their
rented houses. Among the selected tribal women 70.7 percent of them had houses each
consisting of one room hut only while 29.3 percent had their houses with a room and a
kitchen. A majority (65.3 percent) of the tribal women stated that they were gainfully
employed homemakers in their families. One third of the employed women were domestic
workers while two third of the subjects were labourers.

The family characteristics of the selected tribal women can be summarized as

follows. Majority of the tribal women belonged to nuclear families. Majority of them had

family size of 2-4 members. Majority of the tribal women had monthly family income

between Rs. 2000 and Rs. 3000. The percentage distribution of selected tribal women of 3

different tribes is found to be similar with regard to demographic factors.

Table 1

Dietary details of selected tribal women

Irulas Enathis Kondareddys Total

Dietary details
N % N % N % N %
Food habits
Vegetarian 2 4.0 4 8.0 1 2.0 7 4.7
Non vegetarian 48 96.0 46 92.0 49 98.0 143 95.4
place of purchase of
ingredients
Ration shop 50 100.0 48 96.0 50 100.0 148 98.7
Co-operative store 3 6.0 4 8.0 2 4.0 9 6.0
Retail shop 43 86.0 41 82.0 43 86.0 127 84.7
Whole sale shop 5 10.0 5 10.0 5 10.0 15 10.0
Street vendors 12 24.0 21 42.0 26 52.0 59 39.3
Meal pattern of the
family
One meal a day 0 0 1 2.0 0 0 1 0.7
Two meals a day 0 0 2 4.0 0 0 2 1.3
Three meals a day 31 62.0 29 58.0 28 56.0 88 58.7
Four meals a day 19 38.0 18 36.0 22 44.0 59 39.3
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As viewed from table 1, a higher percent of 95.4 of the tribal women were non
vegetarians, while only 4.7 percent of the women were vegetarians. Majority of the tribal
women purchased provisions from ration shops. Purchase of provisions from street
vendors was considered by 39.8 percent of the women. Ten percent of the women
purchased provisions from wholesale shops, while 60.0 percent of the respondents
purchased provisions from co-operative stores. Majority (58.7 percent) of the tribal women
took two meals per day, while only 39.3 percent of the respondents had four meals per day.
It is also evident from the table that the percentage distribution of selected tribal women of
3 different tribes is found to be slightly varying with regard to dietary details.

Table 2

Distribution of selected tribal women based on employment status of spouse

Irulas Enathis Kondareddys Total

Details
N % N % N % N %
Employment status of
spouse
Employed 50 100.0 49 98.0 50 100.0 149 99.3
Unemployed 0 0 1 2.0 0 0 1 0.7
Place of employment of
the spouse
Government 23 46.0 18 36.0 14 28.0 55 36.7
Private 27 54.0 32 64.0 36 72.0 95 63.3
Occupational status of
the spouse
Domestic worker 2 4.0 11 22.0 6 12.0 19 12.6
Labourer 48 96.0 39 78.0 44 88.0 131 87.3

From table 2, it is inferred that majority of the spouse of the tribal women in all the

three tribes were employed and majority of them worked as labourers.

Table 3
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Quality of life of selected tribal women of various tribal groups

Irulas Enathis Kondareddys Total

Quality of life score
N % N % N % N %
Low level (Less than 60) 17 34.0 11 22.0 13 26.0 41 27.3
Moderate level (60-70) 21 42.0 20 40.0 24 48.0 65 43.3
High level (More than 70) 2 24.0 19 38.0 13 26.0 44 29.3

As depicted in table 3, the score obtained by the selected tribal women were
grouped into three levels based on the values of 25 th percentile(Less than 60), 50th
percentile (60 – 70) and 75th percentile (more than 70). Among the selected tribal women
43 percent had their quality of life at moderate level while 29 percent and 27 percent had
their quality of life at a higher and lower level.

Life Satisfaction of Selected Tribal Women

The life satisfaction of selected tribal women based on various tribal groups is
presented in table 4.

Table 4

Life satisfaction of selected tribal groups

Life satisfaction Irulas Enathis Kondareddys Total

score N % N % N % N %
Low level
20 40.0 18 36.0 2 4.0 40 26.7
(Less than 190)
Moderate level
10 20.0 14 28.0 23 46.0 47 31.3
(190-200)
High level
20 40.0 18 36.0 25 50.0 63 42.0
(More than 200)

The score obtained by the selected tribal women were grouped into three levels
based on the values of 25th percentile (Less than 190), 50th percentile(190-200) and 75th
percentile (More than 200).Among tribal groups a maximum of 42 percent of tribal women
were Kondareddys who were found to have a high level of life satisfaction followed by
irulas (40 percent) and enathis (36 percent).

Among the tribal groups the life satisfaction of Kondareddys was found to be
moderate, followed by 28 percent of enathis and 20 percent of irulas. A maximum
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percentage of tribal women with low level of life satisfaction was seen among irulas (40
percent) followed by enathis (36 percent) and Kondareddys (4 percent).

Table 5

Comparison of the socio economic status of selected tribal women based on tribal
groups, age and number of children

Source of Sum of
Particulars Df Mean square F
variation square
Socio Between 18.253 2 9.127 
economic groups
status based Within 1162.740 147 7.910 1.154NS
on tribal groups
groups
Total 1180.993 149
Socio Between 27777329 2 13888664.657 
economic groups
status based Within 2.37E+08 147 1612489.953 8.613**
on age groups
Total 2.65E+08 149
Socio Between 41.425 2 20.713 
economic groups
status based Within 1139.568 147 7.752 2.672NS
on number of groups
children
Total 1180.993 149
NS – Not Significant
** - Significant at 1% level

It is clear from the table 5 that there is no significant difference in the socio
economic status of different tribal groups and number of children. All the women were
found to have the same level of socio economic status. A highly significant difference
existed at 1% level of socio economic status of tribal women based on age. Age of the
women was found to have influence on the socio economic status. Further analysis using
Duncan’s multiple range test revealed the exact significant difference existing between the
groups which is presented in table 5a.

Table 5a
Duncan’s multiple Range test depicting total income of selected tribal women as per
tribal group
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Subset for alpha

Particulars N
1 2
Irulas 50 2834.40
Enathis 50 3552.20
Kondareddys 50 3861.80

Duncan’s multiple Range test shows that among the three tribal groups
Kondareddys had the high income level followed by Enathis and Irulas.

Table 6

Distribution of selected tribal women based on various cultural aspects

Irulas Enathis Kondareddys Total
Cultural aspects
N % N % N % N %
Opinion about culture 42 84.0 42 84.0 39 78.0 123 82.0
Practices of ancestors 44 88.0 46 92.0 42 84.0 132 88.0
Process of socialization
to develop personality 48 96.0 47 94.0 48 96.0 143 95.3
of children
Superstitious beliefs 45 90.0 45 90.0 46 92.0 136 90.7
Following those beliefs 48 96.0 47 94.0 50 100.0 145 96.7
Leaders to administer
45 90.0 48 96.0 45 90.0 138 92.0
group
Dowry system 20 40.0 14 28.0 17 34.0 51 34.0
Widow remarriage 31 62.0 35 70.0 30 60.0 96 64.0
Entitled for divorce 27 54.0 32 64.0 23 46.0 82 54.7
Interested in social
41 82.0 43 86.0 47 94.0 131 87.4
reforms
Education of women 47 94.0 44 88.0 45 90.0 136 90.7
Social interactions 33 66.0 39 78.0 34 68.0 106 70.7
Employment
43 86.0 33 66.0 42 84.0 118 78.7
opportunities
Discrimination in the
43 86.0 41 82.0 47 94.0 131 87.3
wages

It is known from table 6 that majority (82.0 percent) of the women from all tribes
had satisfactory faith in their culture. A majority of 90.7 percent of the women had
superstitious beliefs, while 96.7 percent of the women followed those beliefs. Ninety
percent of the women had some leaders to administer in their groups. Seventy nine percent
of the women stated that wage discrimination existed between men and women. It is also
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evident from the table that the percentage distribution of selected tribal women of three
groups had similar thoughts on cultural aspects.

Table 7

Correlation between life satisfaction and quality of life, socio economic status, total
income and cultural barriers

Socio
Components of Total family Cultural
Quality of life economic
life satisfaction income barriers
status
Life management 0.217** 0.252** 0.298** 0.031NS
Employment 0.206* 0.261** 0.342** 0.087NS
Unemployment -0.177* -0.066NS -0.310** -0.129NS
Health -0.102NS -0.093NS -0.074NS -0.036NS
Medication 0.031NS -0.011NS 0.131NS -0.072NS
Support -0.129NS -0.048NS -0.103NS -0.025NS
Communication -0.073NS -0.057NS -0.227** -0.067NS
Activities 0.079NS 0.448** 0.293** 0.056NS
Current life feel -0.031NS 0.040NS 0.102NS 0.057NS
Overall life 0.051NS 0.144NS 0.131NS -0.038NS
satisfaction

** Correlation is significant at 1% level

* Correlation is significant at 5% level
NS - Not Significant.

Table – 7 shows the correlation between the life satisfaction on life management,
employment, unemployment, health, medication, support, communication, activities,
current life feel and overall life satisfaction. There was a significant positive correlation
between the responses of the selected tribal women in total income and the life satisfaction
for life management, employment, unemployment, communication and activities.

When analyzing the table for correlation between the life satisfaction and quality of
life, socioeconomic status, total income and cultural barriers it was interesting to note that
there was a good positive correlation between the life satisfaction for life management,
employment, unemployment, communication of the selected tribal women.

There was a good correlation between the life satisfaction on socio economic status
for life management, employment and activities and socioeconomic status, positive
correlation between quality of life for life management, employment, unemployment and
quality of life. A significant negative correlation was found between unemployment and
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quality of life, unemployment and total family income, communication and total family
income.

Table 8

Factors contributing to variance of life satisfaction of the selected Tribal women

Un standardized Standardized
General details Predictors co-efficient coefficient ‘t’
Beta Std error Beta
R = 0.326 Age -1.144 1.881 -0.051 -0.608NS
R2 = 0.106 Education 6.844 4.146 0.135 1.651NS
Adj R2=0.049 Marital status 6.559 3.079 0.178 2.130*
Size of family -5.984 4.351 -0.136 -1.375NS
SE = 21.42118 Number of 2.533 2.770 0.093 0.914NS
children
Employment of 3.134 4.364 0.068 0.718NS
subject
Total family 0.003 0.001 0.203 2.253**
F = 1.847* monthly income
Socio economic 1.064 0.653 0.136 1.631NS
status
Cultural barriers 0.120 0.865 0.012 0.139NS

NS – Not significant
*- Significant at 5 percent level.
**Significant at 1 percent level.

Table 8 shows the results of multiple regression analysis carried out to identify the
factors contributing to variance of selected respondents of tribal women. It was found
that the selected factors namely the age, education, marital status, size of family, number of
children, employment status of subjects, total family income, socio economic status and
cultural barriers contribute significantly to life satisfaction of the selected tribal women (F
= 1.847) at five percent level. It was also observed that the above mentioned factors
contributed 28 percent of the total variance of the dependent variable, life satisfaction of
the selected tribal women [R2 = 0.106].

From the ‘t’ value it is found that the marital status and total income contributed
significantly to the life satisfaction of the tribal women. The positive Beta values explain
that marital status and total income contributed to the variance. This means that whenever
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the marital status and total family monthly income of the tribal people are good, life
satisfaction is also good.

Conclusion

Tribal women everywhere ought to have a rightful place in the society. Their
involvement is essential in all programmes of change and development. They cannot be
left out of the scene on the plea of their being physically, mentally and socially weak. In
many tribal pockets in the country tribal women have come forward to adopt innovations.
However, they are yet to be more effectively mobilized to bring about change for leading a
good quality of life. Detailed plans to improve the status of tribal women are necessary.
The present study has revealed the fact that they should be provided with better
educational and employment opportunities by timely awareness as many tribal women
were still illiterates and their socio economic status was found to be at low level with
moderate quality of life and life satisfaction. Marital and socio economic status were found
to be contributing to their quality of life and life satisfaction.

They need to be more effectively motivated towards better education and

employment opportunities by overcoming cultural barriers to enjoy a good quality of life
with maximum level of life satisfaction.

BIBLIOGRAPY:
1. Dixit.K (2006) Tribes and Tribals struggle for survival, New Delhi, Vista
international Publishing house, PP-5, 14-27, 102-104.
2. Gupta, S.P. (1993). Statistical Methods, New Delhi. Sultan and Sons Publishing
Company. pp: 475-479.
3. Rao.K, (2005). Empowerment of Women in India. New Delhi. Discovery
Publishing House, pp:180-190.
4. Sahu, C. (2001). Indian Tribal Life. New Delhi. Sarup and Sons Publications,
pp:19,214.
5. http://en.wikepedia.org/wiki/socioeconomic_status.