Microfinance & Women

2.8 billion people – nearly half the world’s population – survive on less than $2 a day. And 1.2 billion of them live on less than $1.25 a day. The majority of them are women and girls.

We know that empowering women to build better livelihoods, increase their income, and create businesses that provide jobs and boost local economies, has a significant impact on reducing poverty and promoting social justice. Despite this, women across the globe continue to be excluded from the economic resources they need to improve not only their lives, but also the lives of their families and communities.

The reasons for this exclusion are rooted in discriminatory social norms and economic structures and tend to have the greatest impact on the poorest women (often living in rural communities), who lack the time, capital, and opportunity to gain social and economic power.

Many of Lendwithcare's local development partners specifically target women because of this. Through supporting women, they have found that microfinance can significantly contribute to women’s empowerment by generating additional income earning opportunities either for the women themselves or for the household. Once women start making more visible economic contributions to the household, this can lead to growth in women’s self-esteem, self-confidence and their status both within the household as well as the wider community. This provides women with more choices and a greater voice in family and community matters.

Studies have also shown that women are often the change agents of the family. This is primarily because women spend a greater percentage of their income on the welfare of their households than men. As a direct result, the health, nutrition and educational status of the household, particularly the children, is more likely to improve. Targeting women also makes commercial sense for microfinance institutions because they have been proven to be more reliable borrowers and are more likely to repay promptly.

Many long standing programmes have found that providing microfinance support and allowing them to improve their economic wellbeing has additional benefits. This has included addressing domestic violence and male alcohol abuse. And in regions where women's mobility is limited, they have become more visible and better able to negotiate in the public sphere.