Abstract
Women empowerment is a focus of regional and global programs created towards women
development in recent years. Economic empowerment seems to bear fruits for the interpersonal,
social, legal and political areas as well. Microfinance programs and wage employment
programs have served as two significant instruments to stimulate this process of positive
change starting from individual/ interpersonal level and expanding to families and communities.
This exploratory study attempts to compare microfinance with wage programs to see their
effectiveness in Karachi. A total of 120 interview questionnaire was distributed among women
respondents, two focus studies and five interviews with the policy makers provided insights
to understand these programs. The study discovers that women who availed microfinance
programs have shown low rate of economic and social development, whereas women who
availed wage programs have shown higher level of economic and social development.
Furthermore, findings have also supported the fact that absence of legal framework,
infrastructure, training programs by microfinance institutions inhibit the growth of the women
enterprise and support wage employment which ensure the fulfillment of basic needs at early
level. The new dimensions of the study can be further investigated by increasing the sample
size.
Shakila Akmal, Dr. Lubna Ayub Asif. (2014) Empowering Women: Microfinance or Wage Employment, Journal of Independent Studies and Research-Management, Social Sciences and Economics, Volume-12, Issue-1.
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