Impact of Microfinance and Empowerment through Self-Help Groups: A Study on the Economic Status of Urban Women

Abstract

Poverty in urban areas is a major concern in contemporary India. Its roots lie partly in the uneducated workforce working in urban areas and partly in the socio-economic structure of urban India. Among various poverty alleviation schemes, micro-finance presents the vision of bringing qualitative change in life. The status of poor, uneducated urban women has become critical to their economic status and social stability. Women working in construction and production industries who are beneficiaries form a large part of the above group in urban areas. People accessing credit under microfinance are playing an important role in the socio-economic life of their families. Yet this is one of the weaknesses of microfinance, the tendency to use the facility for the immediate monetary needs of poor households, rather than spending on self-employed micro enterprise as a major function of motivating them for self-employment. In this research, primary data has been collected from women working in self-help groups. An attempt has been made to observe the utilization of loans of 124 women members of self-help groups,