From Hearth to Wellbeing: Clean Cooking, Women’s Welfare and Socioeconomic Development in Agricultural Households

Abstract

Clean cooking is an important rural development issue for agricultural households because it can reduce women’s domestic drudgery and promote their participation in household and community activities. Although the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) has expanded LPG access among economically disadvantaged rural households, its welfare outcomes remain underexplored. This cross-sectional study examined the socioeconomic determinants of perceived living standards among 279 women PMUY beneficiaries in rural Madhya Pradesh, selected through multistage stratified random sampling during 2025. An Ordered Logit Model and Average Marginal Effects were used for analysis. The model was statistically significant (LR χ² = 130.92, p < 0.001). Education, perceived health improvement, refill affordability, social participation, perceived LPG safety, decision-making respect, and economic independence were positively associated with higher perceived living standards, whereas income increase, reported by only 3% of respondents, showed a potentially fragile negative association. Refill affordability, social participation, and economic independence had the largest marginal effects. The findings highlight the importance of sustained refill affordability, women’s agency, and social participation in improving perceived welfare and underscore the role of extension institutions in promoting awareness, refill support, and women-centred livelihood interventions.