Seminar by – Ashwini Deshpande, Department of Economics, Delhi School of Economics, 31st August, 2017 (Thursday) at 3:00 PM

 Do Livelihood Programmes Empower Women? Evidence from Self-Help Groups in Rural India

by

Ashwini Deshpande

Department of Economics, Delhi School of Economics

On

31st August, 2017 (Thursday) at 3:00 PM

Venue : Seminar Room (First Floor)
Department of Economics, Delhi School of Economics

All are cordially invited

Abstract

Based on primary data from a  large-scale rural survey of the ten poorest districts in Maharashtra, this paper examines the impact of participation in self-help groups on livelihoods and various other dimensions of women's lives, e.g. political participation, awareness of administrative positions, financial literacy and autonomy, decision-making and mobility, access to information and entertainment, personal efficacy and aspirations for their children. We find a strong positive impact of SHG membership on the various empowerment measures, but no significant effect on livelihoods. We also investigate if these effects are differentiated by women's social identity -- specifically caste and tribal status -- and find that the impact is stronger for women from marginalised groups. Rural Maharashtra offers a rich repository of distinct SHG models. Qualitative observations during field visits indicate that details matter: the specific mobilisation process and design of the livelihoods programme might be key inputs that determine success.