‘Don’t be Loud’: Challenges and Issues of Women in Post-Marriage Family Structures of Pakistan

This paper examined the social, cultural, financial and psychological issues and challenges faced by married women in post-marriage nuclear and joint family structures of Pakistan.It was a descriptive study following the qualitative research approach to investigate the proposed problem with the semistructured in-depth interviews.Respondents of the study were 12 newlyweds married women (6 from nuclear family structures and 6 from joint family structures), their husbands ( 12) and their mothers-in-law (12) in Lahore.Therefore, Total 36 participants from the same 12 families (3 participants (husband, wife and mother-in-law) from each family) were selected through a purposive sampling technique to collect the data.Through thematic analysis of the responses under the light of Functional Fit theory and family System theory, this paper concluded the findings at multiple levels.It was observed that the selected newly married women from nuclear families were more independent, confident, financially better, socially active, culturally freer and psychologically stronger than those women who were living in the selected joint families.It was also found that the personal bond between husband and wife from the selected nuclear families was much stronger than that of couple from joint families.They would be happier than those couples whose relationships were influenced by in-laws specifically mothers-in-law.It was further concluded that women feel free to work, cook, give birth to their children, adopt prenatal and postnatal care procedures, and in their life styles in nuclear family structures.Their level of satisfaction towards married life and husband was found much higher than those who share their houses with their in-laws.