Gender Matters in Economic Empowerment Interventions : A Research Review

Evidence shows that women face additional constraints because of their gender that affect their economic performance. A review of recent evaluation research demonstrates the types of gender-related constraints women face and the role that economic empowerment interventions can play in overcoming the...

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Main Authors:	Buvinic, Mayra, O'Donnel, Megan
Format:	Journal Article
Published:	Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the World Bank 2021
Subjects:	GENDER GAP GENDER BIAS FEMALE LABOR FORCE PARTICIPATION WOMEN'S EMPOWERMENT FINANCIAL INCLUSION SAVINGS BUSINESS TRAINING FEMALE ENTREPRENEURS YOUTH EMPLOYMENT POVERTY REDUCTION TRAINING ENTREPRENEURSHIP LABOR DISCRIMINATION
Online Access:	http://hdl.handle.net/10986/35086

id	okr-10986-35086
recordtype	oai_dc
spelling	okr-10986-350862021-04-23T14:02:15Z Gender Matters in Economic Empowerment Interventions : A Research Review Buvinic, Mayra O'Donnel, Megan GENDER GAP GENDER BIAS FEMALE LABOR FORCE PARTICIPATION WOMEN'S EMPOWERMENT FINANCIAL INCLUSION SAVINGS BUSINESS TRAINING FEMALE ENTREPRENEURS YOUTH EMPLOYMENT POVERTY REDUCTION TRAINING ENTREPRENEURSHIP LABOR DISCRIMINATION Evidence shows that women face additional constraints because of their gender that affect their economic performance. A review of recent evaluation research demonstrates the types of gender-related constraints women face and the role that economic empowerment interventions can play in overcoming them, especially if they incorporate aspects of smart design, increasing their development impact. The evidence suggests that financial services and training programs are not gender-neutral and that specific design features can yield more positive economic outcomes for women by helping them overcome gender-related constraints. These features include savings and “Graduation” programs that increase women's economic independence, self-reliance and self-control, and the practice of repeated micro-borrowing that increases financial risk-taking and choice. “Smart” design also includes high-quality business management and jobs skills training, and stipends and other incentives in these training programs that address women's and young women's additional time burdens and childcare demands. Peer support may also help to increase financial risk-taking and confidence in business decisions. However, when social norms are too restrictive, and women are prevented from doing any paid work, no design will be smart enough. Subjective economic empowerment appears to be an important intermediate outcome for women that should be promoted and more reliably and accurately measured. Lastly, whenever possible, results should be sex-disaggregated and reported for individuals as well as households. 2021-02-01T22:21:19Z 2021-02-01T22:21:19Z 2019-08 Journal Article World Bank Research Observer 1564-6971 http://hdl.handle.net/10986/35086 CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/igo World Bank Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the World Bank Publications & Research Publications & Research :: Journal Article
repository_type	Digital Repository
institution_category	Foreign Institution
institution	Digital Repositories
building	World Bank Open Knowledge Repository
collection	World Bank
topic	GENDER GAP GENDER BIAS FEMALE LABOR FORCE PARTICIPATION WOMEN'S EMPOWERMENT FINANCIAL INCLUSION SAVINGS BUSINESS TRAINING FEMALE ENTREPRENEURS YOUTH EMPLOYMENT POVERTY REDUCTION TRAINING ENTREPRENEURSHIP LABOR DISCRIMINATION
spellingShingle	GENDER GAP GENDER BIAS FEMALE LABOR FORCE PARTICIPATION WOMEN'S EMPOWERMENT FINANCIAL INCLUSION SAVINGS BUSINESS TRAINING FEMALE ENTREPRENEURS YOUTH EMPLOYMENT POVERTY REDUCTION TRAINING ENTREPRENEURSHIP LABOR DISCRIMINATION Buvinic, Mayra O'Donnel, Megan Gender Matters in Economic Empowerment Interventions : A Research Review
description	Evidence shows that women face additional constraints because of their gender that affect their economic performance. A review of recent evaluation research demonstrates the types of gender-related constraints women face and the role that economic empowerment interventions can play in overcoming them, especially if they incorporate aspects of smart design, increasing their development impact. The evidence suggests that financial services and training programs are not gender-neutral and that specific design features can yield more positive economic outcomes for women by helping them overcome gender-related constraints. These features include savings and “Graduation” programs that increase women's economic independence, self-reliance and self-control, and the practice of repeated micro-borrowing that increases financial risk-taking and choice. “Smart” design also includes high-quality business management and jobs skills training, and stipends and other incentives in these training programs that address women's and young women's additional time burdens and childcare demands. Peer support may also help to increase financial risk-taking and confidence in business decisions. However, when social norms are too restrictive, and women are prevented from doing any paid work, no design will be smart enough. Subjective economic empowerment appears to be an important intermediate outcome for women that should be promoted and more reliably and accurately measured. Lastly, whenever possible, results should be sex-disaggregated and reported for individuals as well as households.
format	Journal Article
author	Buvinic, Mayra O'Donnel, Megan
author_facet	Buvinic, Mayra O'Donnel, Megan
author_sort	Buvinic, Mayra
title	Gender Matters in Economic Empowerment Interventions : A Research Review
title_short	Gender Matters in Economic Empowerment Interventions : A Research Review
title_full	Gender Matters in Economic Empowerment Interventions : A Research Review
title_fullStr	Gender Matters in Economic Empowerment Interventions : A Research Review
title_full_unstemmed	Gender Matters in Economic Empowerment Interventions : A Research Review
title_sort	gender matters in economic empowerment interventions : a research review
publisher	Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the World Bank
publishDate	2021
url	http://hdl.handle.net/10986/35086
_version_	1764482295586095104

Gender Matters in Economic Empowerment Interventions : A Research Review

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