The policies that empower women: empirical evidence from India’s National Rural Livelihoods Project
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Executive summary
Emanating from theoretical models of household decision-making that demonstrate how improvements in women’s opportunities can enhance their bargaining power, and bolstered by empirical evidence that supports this view, government programmes are increasingly being targeted to women. Of these, programmes that promote and develop savings and loan groups that offer women opportunities to save, access credit and enhance their incomes are amongst the most popular. These policies build on the premise that improvements in a woman’s financial standing will improve her status within the household, helping to redress social norms that adversely affect her choices, opportunities and welfare. Evaluations of many of these programmes, however, suggest mixed results. A significant set of studies finds no impact from micro-finance or self-help groups (SHGs) on measures