Women’s Satisfaction with Life: The Role of Socioeconomic Factors

Abstract

Are educated Pakistani women satisfied with their lives? What are the possible psychosocial factors which may contribute to the life satisfaction of educated Pakistani women? Pakistani researchers have not answered these important questions, so the current study intends to fill the knowledge gap. The study involved 1291 conveniently selected educated Pakistani women with variations in age, marital status, educational qualification, occupational associations, and socioeconomic status. Satisfaction with Life Scale (Diener, Emmons, Larsen & Griffin, 1985) was administered. The study found that educated Pakistani women were slightly satisfied with their lives, i.e., neither dissatisfied nor extremely satisfied. In percentage, it can be interpreted that the educated Pakistani women were 68.77 % satisfied with their lives.  The study also found that only income, i.e., fathers’ and husbands’ monthly incomes, significantly correlated with women’s life satisfaction The women whose fathers and husbands had higher monthly incomes were found to have higher levels of life satisfaction.   The study sensitizes policymakers to facilitate the education of Pakistani women in their progress and development so that they can be more satisfied with their lives.