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

c) Women’s disempowerment by region and gender Out of the ten regions, Eastern contributed the highest percentage (17.9%) to women’s disempower- ment, followed by Southern (12.3%) and Muchinga (12.0%). The least contributor to women’s dis- empowerment was North West (5.1%). Table 4: Women disempowerment by region (K=2) Absolute contribution Relative contribution Region 0 M 0 H A 0 1 M − 0 M 0 H A 0 1 M − Central 0.307 0.889 0.345 0.693 0.088 0.092 0.957 0.912 Copperbel 0.344 0.943 0.365 0.656 0.072 0.071 1.014 0.928 Eastern 0.335 0.915 0.366 0.665 0.180 0.179 1.006 0.820 Luapula 0.350 0.948 0.369 0.650 0.134 0.132 1.015 0.866 Lusaka 0.283 0.894 0.317 0.717 0.048 0.055 0.873 0.952 Muchinga 0.340 0.916 0.371 0.660 0.120 0.118 1.017 0.880 Northern 0.327 0.943 0.347 0.673 0.092 0.096 0.958 0.908 North West 0.297 0.921 0.322 0.703 0.045 0.051 0.882 0.955 Southern 0.358 0.960 0.373 0.642 0.126 0.123 1.024 0.874 Western 0.382 0.921 0.415 0.618 0.096 0.084 1.143 0.904 Source: Authors Own Construct (July 2020) With respect to gender, men’s contribution to women’s disempowerment was very high (91.7%). Only 8.3 percent of women contribute to women disempowerment. Obayelu and Chime, (2020) and Popoola and Adeoti (2016) also had similar results in rural Nigeria. Table 5: Women’s disempowerment by gender of household head at k=2 Gender 0 M 0 H A 0 1 M − absolute contribution Men 0.226 0.493 0.458 0.774 Women 0.199 0.422 0.472 0.801 Relative contribution Men 0.918 0.917 1.001 0.082 Women 0.082 0.083 0.988 0.918 Source: Authors Own Construct (July 2020) d) Women empowerment and disempowerment index based on socio-economic characteristics Women within the age bracket of 15-20 years are disempowered than those with 21-30 years. Similarly, those with 40-49 years are empowered than those within 31-40 years. Cumulatively, women within the age bracket of 21-40 years had the highest level of empowerment (71.1%). This category of women falls with the active population group and also working age hence are more likely to be empowered than their counterparts. The findings is in line with Oriana (2014) results. Secondary (14.9%) and higher (2.1%) forms of education contributed the least to women disempowerment. Primary education was the highest contributor to women disempowerment. Abaidoo (2020) opined that higher forms education improves human capital thereby reducing level of poverty. Consequently, women with higher level of education are more likely to have the requisite skills and to be gainfully employed for better income. Married women are more empowered than unmarried women. Additionally, poorest and poorer women contributes 34.3 percent and 32.7 percent respectively to women disempowerment. Furthermore, households with household size within 5-8 members had the highest level (60.1%) of women empowerment. Pit/latrine as a type of toilet facility was the highest contributor to women disempowerment (77.7%); followed by no facility (20.7%). Majority of the empowered women (52.8%) were into farmers, followed by sales (26.3%) and professionals (6.9%). This implies that women in rural areas are more empowered when they engage in the primary activity (agriculture) that yields income within their community. The least contributor to women empowerment was clerical (0.1%). This is line with Obayelu and Chime, (2020) who reported similar results in rural Nigeria as well as. They found that clerical contribute only 0.12 percent towards women empowerment in rural Nigeria. Oriana (2014) also had similar results. © 2022 Global Journals Volume XXII Issue VII Version I 11 ( ) Global Journal of Human Social Science - Year 2022 E Assessment of the Key Indicators and Dimensions of Women Empowerment in Rural Zambia