The Role of Financial Inclusion in Driving Women's Economic Empowerment

Abstract

The current chapter examines the impact of financial inclusion on women's economic empowerment. The data was gathered from 1,140 women in slums through a structured schedule on a five-point Likert scale. The schedule was pretested and validated using reliability and validity tests. The exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis were performed to validate the questions. The impact was tested using linear regression, and results of regression model indicated women's financial inclusion significantly contributes to their economic empowerment. The findings of the study indicate that women in urban slums do not lack access to financial institutions. The results of the study have critical implications for policymakers and stakeholders involved in the financial inclusion process such as bankers, self-help groups, and others to re-orient themselves towards financial inclusion practices.