*Lecturer, Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University, Katra.
**Research Scholar, Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University, Katra.
Online published on 27 November, 2012.
The present study focussed on women participation in labour force with the specific objectives of analysing gender dimension of rural poverty and identifying the key factors leading to gender division. The study was based on primary data only and was confined to rural and urban areas of Jammu division of J&K state only. The results indicated that overall the gender ratio in case of APL families is greater than the BPL families. The gender division of labour is a key tool of women's aggravation in labour market. There are many factors which lead to gender division of labour. These are physical capability(with a mean score of 4.09), Sexual Discrimination(with a mean score of 3.51), Participation in decision making(with a mean score of 3.43),Access to Health (with a mean score of 3.13) followed by Status Inequity(with a mean score of 3.04), Access to Education(with a mean score of 2.88), Ignored Women Services(with a mean score of 2.81), Emerging disproportionate Opportunities in the New Era (with a mean score of 2.79),Earnings biased (with a mean score of 2.3) and Mental Attitude(with a mean score of 2.16).Thus there is a need to recognize the women's reproductive and other unpaid work, and working the informal sector.
