A Quantitative Study On The Influence Of Micro Finance Service Upon The Economic Empowerment Of Rural Women

Abstract

Self Help Groups (SHGs) dominating the microfinance market in India offers an effective system for rendering financial services to the "unreached poor," uplifting underprivileged and marginalized women in the society, thereby promoting gender equality and women empowerment. The neighborhood groups (NHG) pool their tiny regular savings and lend them to the most deserving members as an internal loan. These loans serve as a stabilizer to keep hold of the group members' immediate financial challenges. This study investigates the effect of microfinance services such as SHGs and NHG on the economic empowerment of rural women. The research design is exploratory and descriptive in nature. The research performs a quantitative analysis using the SPSS version 23 software package, through survey assessment from rural women in Kerala. A structured questionnaire survey method was used to gather the data from rural women who were actively involved in microfinance institutions. The main idea behind the survey method is to collect data relating to the perception of rural women on the services provided by microfinance and its effects on their economic empowerment. Convenience sampling approach is used for quantitative analysis and 100 responses from women in rural region are obtained. Regression, descriptive statistics, frequency distribution, and ANOVA test are used in the research to predict the outcome. The outcome of the study revealed that the initiatives of microfinance institutions have a positive effect on the economic empowerment of rural women. Furthermore, the study concludes that the microfinance services has improved the socio-economic condition of rural women in Kerala.