Competing Priorities : How Household Income Management Affects Women’s Microenterprises in Urban Ghana
Cash grants often lead to increases in business profits for male entrepreneurs, but not for female entrepreneurs. This study identifies key household-level factors that constrain women’s ability to grow their business. Through in-depth qualitative...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Brief |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
World Bank, Washington, DC
2020
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| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/230751578551115058/Competing-Priorities-How-Household-Income-Management-Affects-Women-s-Microenterprises-in-Urban-Ghana http://hdl.handle.net/10986/33170 |
| Summary: | Cash grants often lead to increases in
business profits for male entrepreneurs, but not for female
entrepreneurs. This study identifies key household-level
factors that constrain women’s ability to grow their
business. Through in-depth qualitative research, it provides
evidence that intrahousehold relationships influence the
business decisions of female microentrepreneurs in urban
Ghana. Intrahousehold relationships constrain the decisions
women make about their businesses in three primary ways: 1)
women hide income and sometimes limit investment in an
effort to reinforce their husband’s responsibilities as a
primary provider and secure sufficient support, 2) women
prioritize savings to meet daily household needs, cover
shortfalls in their husband’s financial support, and take
care of emergencies, and 3) marital insecurity encourages
women to dedicate business income to long-term investments
independent of their husbands, such as property or
children’s’ education. Efforts to support women
microentrepreneurs will need to address barriers to women’s
ability to meet daily household needs and to plan for
long-term security, in addition to relieving capital
constraints. Policy responses could include increasing
security by improving marital property rights for women or
improving social safety nets to change the calculus that
leads women to prioritize savings over investment. |
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