Property Ownership of Women in Contemporary India: An Assessment of NFHS-V Report

Despite the advancements in inheritance laws and gender equality, women around the globe still fight for their rights. Women, unquestionably, have equal rights as men over the land. The movement towards property ownership of women began decades ago; apparently very limited positive changes have occurred at the policy level and much less in the real world. Property ownership is interlinked with women's empowerment. Property ownership enables women to raise their voices, it reduces domestic violence, and it has an enormous impact on the health of children and the overall condition of the family. Secondary data from the National Family Health Survey 2019-21 (NFHS V) India report has been used in this paper for examining the property ownership of women in India. A comparison of asset ownership among states and union territories provides a comprehensive picture of the country's women. The rural-urban asset ownership categorization from the NFHS 5 report is also utilized to determine the extent of regional disparities in land and home ownership by men and women. The statistical tool independent t-test was performed on the data. Results from the independent t -test shows the apparent gender gap . Women in India hold fewer assets than their male counterparts identical to their situation around the globe. There is a clear disparity between rural and urban women who own homes or property. It demonstrates that more rural women than urban women own ownership titles. People find it difficult to purchase the pricey land in urban regions when compared to rural ones.