THE POVERTY-PURDAH TRAP IN RURAL BANGLADESH - IMPLICATIONS FOR WOMENSROLES IN THE FAMILY

Trends in poverty, working through changing roles of women in income g eneration, have been advanced as one explanation of changing fertility in Bangladesh. This paper examines women's work patterns in two rural villages in northern Bangladesh and finds little evidence of increasi ng workforce participation, despite high contraceptive use rates. Obse rvation of women's work patterns suggests that purdah, the practice of female seclusion, influences and conditions women's decisions regardi ng roles they assume, and remains a dominant influence in women's live s, showing little evidence of responsiveness to poverty.