From Traditional to Transitional Families: The Role of Women's Employment in Reshaping Household Structures in Multan Division

Abstract

Due to socioeconomic factors and women's length of employment, traditional joint family systems are gradually giving way to nuclear arrangements. This study used a quantitative methodology, gathering information from a representative sample of female educators with a range of experience levels. The main factors were age, educational background, socioeconomic status, length of teaching experience, and family structure (nuclear or joint). The correlation analysis looked at the direction and strength of relationships between continuous variables, while the chi-square test was used to determine the relationship between variables. According to t-tests (p < 0.001), the analyses showed significant differences in family structure across experience levels, with women with more than 20 years of teaching experience being more likely to live in nuclear families than those with less than five years. Strong correlations were found between experience and family type (r = 0.65) and between socioeconomic status and family structure (r = 0.58). This study demonstrates that family structure in Multan Division is strongly influenced by women's teaching experience, with advanced experience being associated with a higher probability of nuclear family arrangements.