Creating women’s capabilities through microcredit in Bangladesh

Mohammad Mojammel Hussain Raihan,Mohammad Jasim Uddin

doi:10.4038/sljss.v41i2.7698

Mohammad Mojammel Hussain Raihan, Mohammad Jasim Uddin

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.4038/sljss.v41i2.7698

Copy DOI

Abstract

Group-based microcredit an extension of small amounts of collateral-free institutional loans to poor with limited access to formal credit markets has become one of the most popular development strategies in Bangladesh. The underlying logic behind the group lending model is that the provision of small loans for poor women, in particular, could facilitate socio-economic development and livelihood improvement in the rural areas. Microcredit to women is considered as a tool for empowering women with increased self-esteem, decision making capability and new income-earning opportunities. However, the impact of microcredit on marginalized people remains debated. While the positive impact of microcredit on millions of poor people’s lives has been documented by various studies, there are also studies that challenge the arguments about women empowerment through microcredit involvement. Based on interviews with 175 of economically and socially vulnerable female microcredit borrowers, the present study contributes to the continuing debate over how or if microcredit intervention enhances women’s capabilities in achieving health care utilization, food and nutrition security, and personal freedom at the local level in Bangladesh. Indices were developed to quantify the capabilities of women. To measure different aspects of capabilities, variables were analyzed through univariate and bi-variate analyses. The results of the present study confirm that microcredit involvement improves women’s basic capabilities but it is not as significant as attested by earlier studies.

Highlights

In Bangladesh, women are socially and economically less fortunate than men
The study findings show that 54.83 percent of the respondents have been involved with Grameen Bank (GB) for 3 to 4 years and about 28 percent of the respondents have been engaged with more than 5 to 6 years
With regard to control over household’s money, the data of the present study reveals that microcredit involvement has brought change in the situation of the female borrowers

Summary

Introduction

In Bangladesh, women are socially and economically less fortunate than men. The life of rural women in Bangladesh, by and large, is dominated by a patriarchal system which upholds a rigid division of labor that restricts women’s mobility, roles and responsibility. Women at the local level, to a large extent, suffer from being economically and socially invisible. The social norms inhibit women to interact with people beyond their family quarters and kinship groups networks. Social norms restrict women’s movement in the market transaction and constrain their potential to generate incomes, limiting their economic dependence on men or other male members of the family (Westergaard, 1983; Bruece, 1989; Abecassis, 1990; Uddin, 2015)

Methods

Results

Conclusion