Global Journal of Human Social Science, E: Economics, Volume 22 Issue 7

( ) ( ) 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1| ( ) Re Re 1 1| r i emp HH edu age ms occ i age edu r i p y xi p p W Sex W W W W l Wel H H g p y xi β β β β β β β β β β β ε   = = = + + + + + + + + + + +     − =   The specific logit model is: ( ) ( ) 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1| ln ln Re Re 1 1| r i emp HH edu age ms occ i age edu r i p y xi W Sex W W W W l Wel H H g p y xi γ γ γ γ γ γ γ γ γ γ γ ε   = = = + + + + + + + + + + +     − =   The variables are explained in Table 2 below: Table 2: Explanation of variables Variables Definition Wemp This is the dependent variable and it represent Women empowerment; Empowerment = 1 and 0 if otherwise Independent variables SexHH Sex of head of household; 1=female and 0 if otherwise Wedu Woman’s level of education measured in years Wage Age of women in years Wms Marital status for women; 1 = married and 0 if otherwise Wocc Occupation for women; 1 = employed and 0 if otherwise Rel Religious background: 1 = Christianity and 0 if otherwise Weli Wealth index; this was categorized into poorest, poorer, middle richer. Poorest: 1 = poorest and 0 if otherwise poorer: 1 = poorer and 0 if otherwise middle: 1 = middle and 0 if otherwise richer: 1 = richer and 0 if otherwise Hage Husband’s age measured in years Hedu Husband’s level of education in years Reg Region; this was based on the ten region Source: Author’s Own Construct (July 2020) III. R esults and D iscussion a) Descriptive Statistics Table 1 presets the descriptive statistics for the indicators of women empowerment. Frequencies and percentages were used in the study. On decision to health care, the pooled results showed that 76.23 percent of women take such decision with their spouse. Only 23 percent of their spouses take the decision alone. This result was consistent across all the ten regions in rural Zambia. The implication is that women in rural Zambia are empowered when it comes to decision on their health care. This confirms Habtamu (2014) who found that women play a vital role on decision of their healthcare. Similarly, 62.81 percent of decision on large household purchases was taken jointly by women and their spouses. This is in contrast with Obayelu and Chime (2020) who found that women have less autonomy on decision on large household purchases. The findings was consistent across all the ten region with the exception of Eastern region where 51.9 percent of decision on large household purchases are taken by only husband/partners. Women within this region have less autonomy on this indicator hence confirms Obayelu and Chime (2020) results. Apart from Luapula, women across the other nine regions frowned on domestic violence against them. From the pooled results, 65.08 percent didn’t justify beating based on going out without telling husband; 60.73 percent didn’t justify beating based on neglect of child; 58.30 percent on argument with husband; 60.13 percent on failure to have sex with husband; and 69.89 percent didn’t justify beating based on burning food. Generally, it is expected that majority of women wont justify any form of domestic violence since it infringes pain on them and also have health consequences. Majority (72.66%) of women operated their own business and only 27.34 percent operated business for someone else. Moreover, 72.72 percent of women jointly took decision on earning with their spouse and 24.28 percent was taken solely by their spouses. Since only 24.28 percent of women spouses takes sole decision on earning, women in Zambia play a vital role in decision on their earning. This is consistent with Obayelu and Chime (2020) who reported that 79 percent of women make join decision on earning with their spouses in rural Nigeria. Additionally, 55.82 percent of the rural women in © 2022 Global Journals Volume XXII Issue VII Version I 5 ( ) Global Journal of Human Social Science - Year 2022 E Assessment of the Key Indicators and Dimensions of Women Empowerment in Rural Zambia Zambia do not own a house whiles 1.77 percent of their