The Role of micro-finance on women empowerment: A case of Suklaphanta Municipality

Abstract

he study focuses on the role of microfinance in women’s empowerment in Suklaphanta Municipality. The independent variables Loan size, Entrepreneurial skills, Access to resource, Types of business, Leadership skills, Self-efficacy. However, the dependent variables are financial independence, decision-making and self-confidence. Primary data was collected from the 201 participants to analyze viewpoints of respondents regarding influence of microfinance on women empowerment. Pearson’s correlation coefficients and regression models were used to determine the significance and effect of microfinance on women empowerment. There is a positive relationship between loan size and women's empowerment, meaning that when there is an increase in loan size, women's empowerment increases also. Likewise, entrepreneurial abilities show a positive relation to empowerment among women, where better entrepreneurship skills lead towards more empowerment. Access to resources is also positively correlated with women empowerment, meaning greater access leads to more empowerment. Another significant positive correlation we observe is between Leadership Skills and Empowerment, which again suggests that higher leadership skills lead to greater empowerment. Moreover, findings showed that self-efficacy has a positive relation with women’s empowerment, indicating that an increase in self-efficacy increases women empowerment. Results from the regression analysis indicate that there is a positive relationship between loan size, entrepreneurial skills, access to resources, types of business, leadership skills and self-efficacy with regards to women’s empowerment.