SOCIO-DEMOGRAPHIC CORRELATES OF HOUSEHOLD RURAL WOMEN’S QUALITY OF LIFE IN SARGODHA DISTRICT, PAKISTAN

The purpose of this study was to explore quality of life in terms of subjective well-being of household rural women in Sargodha district in Punjab Province, Pakistan. A random sample of 207 women representing all the seven tehsils of Sargodha district was selected to study the impact of socio-demographic characteristics of household rural women on their quality of life. Main objectives of the study were to unveil the state of household rural women’s well-being in Pakistan and to find out how far socio-demographic correlates affect household rural women’s quality of life. The data was collected through an interview schedule and the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD) parameters of subjective well-being were used. The data was analysed through SPSS Version-17. The findings of this study revealed that women’s age is insignificant to their subjective well-being interpreting younger women not to be happier than the older ones and vice versa. On the other hand, their status of health, household income, educational level, marital status and religiosity are significantly correlated at 0.05 significance level explaining that women with good health, good household income, more education, successful marriage and religious bent are happier than their counterparts lacking these factors. As identified by this study, dull-edged tools for Pakistani rural women’s well-being are education, health and household income which need to be taken care of at the earliest outset.