Abstract
The present study was designed to determine the comparison in the degree of occupational stress as experienced by married and unmarried working women of Hyderabad city. This study provides valuable information about the stress levels of both groups of respondents. It also discovers the main causes of women's occupational stress. The sample consisted of 180 working women. Among them 90 participants of the study were unmarried working women and 90 were married working women with at least one child, who responded on the occupational stress scale (OSS) (Sohail & Khanum, 2000). It was assumed that married working women would have higher work related stress than unmarried working women. Statistical analysis by computing the t-test revealed a significant difference among the scores of the two groups of women. According to the results of the study, the overall work related stress measured through OSS was obviously greater in married working women as compared to the unmarried working women. These findings confirm the hypothesis of the study. The higher level of occupational stress among married women than unmarried women are explained in terms of traditional trends, demands of society and more roles and responsibilities assigned to them as a mother, wife and homemaker, as compared to unmarried women.