A Comparative Study to Examine the Quality of Life Among Married Working and Non-Working Women

Quality of life (QOL) refers to the subjective well-being of the individual or society that consists of various positive and negative aspects of life. As believed that job is the most influential factor in enhancing the quality of life, however working women face various problems because of dual responsibilities. Similarly, homemakers have to take care of their homes and children as well so it is very difficult to state which group has a better quality of life. The present study was planned to solve this controversy and to compare the quality of life of working and non-working women. The sample for the current investigation consists of 40 women (20 working and 20 non-working) in the age range of 20-40 years. Data collection was done in Hisar district of Haryana state using quality of life questionnaire developed by Gehlert et al. (2006). Data was analysed using SPSS 28 version by applying appropriate statistical tests. Findings of the study revealed that significant differences existed in quality of life of working and non-working women. Working women were found on the better side in all the aspects of quality of life except in the case of social health aspect the mean score of non-working women was found higher than working. Age, number of years in marriage, number of children, working hours, domestic help, mass media exposure, family size and income were found contributing factors toward quality of life among women.


Introduction
Women play a crucial role in our families and society, and their well-being is an indicator of the general well-being of the community as a whole. Women's attitudes towards conventional roles have changed over the past several years, and many of them now hold dual responsibility for their employment and their household work. "The number of working women has increased compared to a decade before due to the increase in educational and job opportunities as well as due to financial demands of managing households" (Balaji, 2014). It is true that in today's society, women have made significant progress in the workforce, but the question of whether working women have a better quality of life than non-working women still remains a topic of debate. The general well-being of people and societies is known as quality of life (QOL), which describes both the negative as well as positive aspects of life. It examines factors that affect life satisfaction, such as physical well-being, family, education, employment status, wealth, religious convictions, finances, and the surrounding environment (Barcaccia, 2013). According to the World Health Organisation, quality of life (QoL) is a subjective assessment of how well one's reality aligns with their aspirations as seen through the prism of their culture and value system. The University of Toronto's Quality of Life Research Unit defines QoL as how much a person may appreciate the worthwhile opportunities in their lives. It is crucial to distinguish between QoL and other concepts that are somewhat similar and may be mistaken with one another in the literature, such as standard of living and health-related quality of life. Quality of life differs from standard of living in the sense that standard of living is solely based upon economic status and income. Both working and non-working women face their unique set of challenges, and the decision to work or not work is a personal one that must take into account individual circumstances. One significant advantage of working women is financial independence. Working women have the opportunity to earn their own money, which can provide them with a sense of autonomy and self-worth. They can contribute to their family's finances, which can relieve financial stress and improve the overall quality of life for the household. Additionally, working women have access to benefits such as health insurance, retirement plans, and paid time off, which can improve their overall quality of life. On the other hand, non-working women can also have a high quality of life, particularly if they have a supportive partner and strong social connections. Non-working women have the time and flexibility to pursue hobbies and interests, volunteer, and engage in community activities, which can provide a sense of purpose and fulfillment. They also have the time and energy to invest in their relationships with family and friends, which can improve overall well-being. So, keeping these views in mind the current study was planned to compare the quality of life among working and non-working women to answer the question that among both which group possess high quality of life.

Methodology Participants:
The present investigation is a type of comparative study of the descriptive domain and it intends to discover the difference between quality of life among working and non-working women. The sample for the present study was comprised of 40 women in the age group of 20-40 years equally divided into both groups (20 working and 20 non-working. The sample was randomly selected from the urban area of Hisar district of Haryana state. Tools Used Self-Structured Socio-Personal Information Sheet was used to collect information regarding personal and social life of working and non-working women. Various aspects related to personal and social life like age, education, occupation, spouse education and occupation, income, mass-media exposure, type and duration of work done, family type and size etc. were included in this sheet. Women's Quality of life Questionnaire Developed by Gehlert et al. (2006) was used to assess the level of QOL among working and non-working women. This scale is a self-report questionnaire intended to measure the four aspects of quality of life and these are, physical health, mental health, social health and spiritual health. It consists of 40 items to be rated on a three-point Likert scale. Scores of the four dimensions were evaluated by adding the rating of the related items and the sum of these scores represented the level of QOL among working and non-working women. Scores were divided into three categories i.e., low, medium and high.  Mental Health 0-10 10-20 20-30 3.
Overall Quality of Life 0-40 40-80 80-120 Procedure: For the purpose of data collection women were approached in their houses, after giving an overview of the study consent from each respondent was taken. Important instructions were given to the respondents to fill out the questionnaire and they were assured that their information would be kept confidential. After that, questionnaires were given to the respondents and collected on the spot after completion.

Data validation and statistical analysis
It was done using Microsoft Excel and SPSS version 28. The data were analysed using descriptive statistics and inferential statistics.  Table 2 represents the distribution of working and non-working women according to their socio-personal profile. Data regarding age showed that 80 per cent of working women and 60 per cent of non-working women were between age of 30-40 years. A large difference was observed between educational qualification of working and non-working women. More than half (60%) of the working women were educated up to post-graduation level followed by graduation (40%), on the other hand a small proportion (30%) of non-working women were educated up to the level of graduation. The data regarding occupation of working women revealed that more than half (60%) of the respondents were doing government job followed by private job (20%) and self-employment (20%). As we all know women are the backbone of society, they remain occupied with work for the betterment of their families no matter they are working or non-working, data also revealed the same pattern women work at least for 6-8 hours a day. Majority of non-working women take rest for 2 hours or even less and in case of non-working women rest period may extend up to 3 hours. More than half (60%) of the working women were married from 5-10 years and 30 per cent of non-working women were from 5-10 years, 30 per cent were from 10-15 and 10 per cent were married from 0-5 years. Trends in spouse education and occupation were found similar to the education qualification and occupation of working and non-working women. 60 per cent of working women had only one child followed by two children (40%). In case of non-working women 40 per cent had three children, 30 per cent had two and 30 per cent had one child. Data regarding availability of domestic help revealed that in case of working women majority (80%) of women get help from paid labourers in contrast 70 per cent non-working women manage household task alone. Most of the working women possess smartphones and spent at least 4 hours on screen or phone, time spent by non-working women was found less than the working women because around 60 per cent women had keypad mobiles. 60 per cent of working women belonged to small and nuclear families and 80 per cent of non-working women belonged to medium sized families. Majority of working women were from families with monthly income of one lakh and above and in case of non-working women 60 per cent of women were from families with monthly income between 10000-50000. Table 3. Comparison between working and non-working women on various aspects of quality of life: Table 3 depicts the difference in the mean scores (± S.D) distribution of respondents at the level of QOL. The mean scores of working and non-working women at the first aspect of QOL i.e., physical health were 22.4±2.43 and 18.4±3.59 respectively. This indicates that significant (t=4.123, p≤0.01) differences existed in the physical health aspect of QOL and working women were ahead of non-working women. Similar findings were also reported by Chandan and George (2016) who concluded that working women in the age group of 20-40 years had lower body mass index due to active involvement in physical activities, had better hand grip power compared to homemakers and also had better overall physical health than homemakers. Comparison on the mental health aspect of QOL revealed that significant (t=4.588, p≤0.01) differences existed among working (21.3±2.11) and non-working (17.2±3.39) women, working women had better mental health as compared to non-working. Similarly, Sinha (2017) inferred that score of working women on the PGI health questionnaire was significantly lower than homemakers which indicates that working women possess a higher level of psychological well-being. In contrast, Kaur et al (2020) reported that non-working women had better mental health as compared to working women because working women have higher stress related to work. Mean score of non-working women on social health aspect was found to be 19.9±4.24 which was significantly (t=6.223, p≤0.01) higher than mean score of working women (13.4±1.96). Similar results were reported by Anand and Sharma (2017) who found that mean score of non-working women on social domain of quality of life was higher as compared to working women because homeworkers have more leisure time to spend with close ones and relatives. Significant differences on spiritual aspect were also found, working women (21.8±2.24) possess greater level (t=2.349, p≤0.05) of spirituality as compared to non-working women. Khandelwal and Sahu (2018) also concluded that working women were on the better side of spiritual well-being as compared to non-working women. Comparison on the overall quality of life revealed that the mean score of working (78.9±4.09) women was significantly (t=3.080, p≤0.01) higher than the mean score of non-working (70.8±11.03) women which indicates that working women enjoy a better-quality life than non-working women. These findings were consistent with the findings of the study conducted by Vernekar et al (2019) who reported better quality of life among working women this may be due to sense of self-dependence, high self-esteem and financial security and independence. Findings of the study were contrasting with the results observed by Anand and Sharma (2017) who concluded that non-working women had a better quality of life.  Table 4 indicates the relationship of various socio-economic variables with QOL of non-working women. Results revealed that significant negative relation existed between age and physical health (r= -0.802, p≤0.01), age and mental health (r= -0.612, p≤0.01), age and overall QOL (r= -0.612, p≤0.01), which indicated that with an increase in age quality of life deteriorates because with an increase in age, various physiological changes occur which are the leading factor of poor quality of life. No significant relationship was found between education and quality of life. Similarly, in case of working hours, no significant relationship existed in all aspects of QOL except in case of social health (r= -0.449, p≤0.05), working hours were found negatively correlated with social health of women which means that with increase in working hours social interaction decreases because they don't have enough time to contact with others.   Table 5 represents the relationship of various socio-economic variables with QOL of working women. Significant (r=0.500, p≤0.05), positive relationship was found between age and the spirituality of working women. Age was found negatively correlated (r= -0.612, p≤0.01), with overall QOL. A significant (r= 0.612, p≤0.01), positive relationship existed between availability of domestic help and mental health. Screen time was found negatively correlated (r= -0.613, p≤0.01), with mental health of working women. Personal income was found positively correlated with quality of life with significant (r= 0.802, p≤0.01), positive correlation between personal income and physical health aspect of QOL. Family size and mental health of working women were found negatively correlated to each other and family size was also found negatively correlated (r= -0.667, p≤0.01), with overall QOL of working women.

Conclusion
In conclusion, both working and non-working women have different priorities and trade-offs, and policy makers and employers need to understand these differences and design policies and programs that cater to the needs of both groups. Future research can explore the relationship between quality of life and work status among women in different regions and cultures.