Women Microfinance Users and Their Association with Improvement in Quality of Life

Introduction

Quality of life studies have gained popularity due to their shift in emphasis from income growth to subjective measurement of wellbeing (Alkire, 2008). Empirical evidence has been found linking improved quality of life of individuals with better health and longevity (Diener & Chan, 2011). Valuable research on quality of life includes a combination of objective socio‐demographic indicators with subjective well‐being measures (Diener & Suh, 2000). Despite reliability concerns of quantifying subjective responses, research has argued that quality of life measurement can be “more objective than is sometimes assumed” (Diener & Suh, 1997, p. 212). It has been agreed that each region must develop its own suitable measurement tools for quality of life analysis, with questionnaires recommended as the best means of measuring changes (Brown, Bowling, & Flynn, 2004).

In 2005 an estimated 1.4 billion people in the developing world lived below poverty lines of USD 1.25 per day (Chen & Ravallion, 2008). Seventy percent of people living below poverty lines are women and fears for the “feminization of poverty” have encouraged policy research to seek possible solutions through microfinance (Moghadam, 2005). Women are argued to have characteristics which trap them in poverty, including illiteracy, limited and unequal employment opportunities, and unpredictable labor supply due to domestic and child‐care burdens (Jackson, 1996; Lopez‐Claros & Zahidi, 2005).

Methodology

The present study is part of a thesis on the association between microfinance loan‐taking and quality of life of women users in urban Lahore. The socio‐demographic characteristics of the sample population have been described in another paper¹. Ethical approval from the Institutional Review Board, University of the Punjab, was obtained before data collection.

Results

Descriptive statistics of Socio‐demographic characteristics

Table 1 provides an overview of sampled women user characteristics. The final sample consisted of 149 women users of microfinance. The age‐group ranged from 20‐59 (149 valid cases, M=37.5, SD=7.74) with a relatively evenly distributed sample across the three age brackets of 20‐ 29 years (32.2%), 30‐39 years (40.3%) and those above 40 years (28.2%). Of the respondents 116 (78.9%) are currently married and living with spouse and 91 (61.1%) are illiterate. Respondents commented that microfinance providers prefer married clients because they are more creditworthy and presumably have higher combined household income.

The household income ranged from USD 51.38 to USD 462.39 per month. Average household income per person living in the house stood at USD 0.98 per day. This means that on average respondents are living below poverty lines of USD 1.25 per day². Spouse literacy for the sample stood at 44.3%, with the majority of women users either unemployed (25.8%) or employed in unskilled labor (29.9%). Group borrowers and loan‐takers for longer than one year stood each at 40.3%. According to respondents, 73.2% were using the loan for themselves and 42.3% were receiving household help in loan repayment. Respondent occupation, type of loan taken (group‐based on individual), loan taken for self, and loan repayment assistance all display significantly high association with quality of life (p < 0.01). There is borderline association between marital status, loan‐taking length, spouse literacy, and household income of respondent and quality of life (p < 0.05).

It is to be noted that 25% of the women in our sample are unemployed. Skilled workers were employed in embroidery and stitching (36%), running a beauty parlor (08%), home tuitions (03%), and lady healthcare work (03%), whereas unskilled workers were employed in running a general store from home (09%), warehouse purchase and retailing (07%), domestic cleaning work (03%), and agricultural production from home (06%). The entire sample belonged to the informal sector of employment characterized by low and erratic pay and the absence of labor contracts and employee benefits. The majority of the employed sample confirmed that they were working from home due to socio‐cultural barriers and community norms against working outside the home.

Table 1.

Socio-demographic characteristics of respondents

Loan Satisfaction

Loan portfolio findings have been listed in table 2. Findings reveal that women users have been provided annual loan amounts ranging from USD 103 to USD 514, which they have to return through monthly installments at interest rates ranging from 10 to 11% of the total loan amount. Respondents commented that the microfinance provider was reluctant to provide larger loans to prevent client default. Though predominant users are satisfied with current loan amount and current installment rate, comments indicated the need for larger loan amounts to support business expansion and a reduction in interest rates for repeat clients who had successfully completed the loan cycle. Findings indicated that 58% of users are attending monthly meetings. However only 05% of users are being provided skill and development training, with no provision for compulsory savings and health insurance by the microfinance provider. Demand for skill development was described in terms of need for financial literacy, the provision of grants for buying furniture for home‐tuitions, and running a beauty parlor from home. 95% of users indicated plans to re‐take a loan after the current loan cycle was completed, with comments indicating that they would not be able to sustain their business without loan renewal.

Table 2.

Descriptive statistics for Loan Portfolio

Descriptive analysis of quality of life improvements

Table 3 shows the percentage improvement in four categories of quality of life. Women users experienced important levels of economic improvements in terms of “participation in income generation activities” (52%), “ability to bear transport costs” (42%), “ability to pay utility bills” (40%), and “purchasing power of food items” (42%). Comments revealed that without microfinance loan provision, trade needs for business mobilization, transport and utility expenses, and household needs for food purchasing would become very difficult due to rising inflation and reduced purchasing power parity in the region.

Comments indicated that users who are not experiencing significant improvement in “ability to work outside home” (74%) faced problems related to mobility, uncomfortable work environments outside home, difficulty in leaving domestic and child‐care responsibilities, and personal distaste for working outside home. None of the respondents are being provided a compulsory saving scheme by microfinance providers and the lack of significant improvement in “personal savings” (73%) is of concern. Comments indicated that savings are hard to accumulate due to rising costs in the economy, insufficient loan amount for business investment, and pressure to pay monthly loan installments. It is also of concern that the ability to pay rent has not improved for a majority (93%) of the respondents, and comments indicated a need for microfinance services to be extended to specialized loans for home ownership in the face of rising house rental costs.

Findings revealed that women users also experienced some non‐economic improvements in quality of life after loan utilization with respect to “respect from family members” (21%), “ability to cope with work‐related stress” (29%), and “decision‐making ability for business and family matters” (44% and 22% respectively). Decision‐making ability for business and family matters was explained to the respondents in terms of business plans and investment decisions, education of children, marriage plans for children, and small and large household purchases. Some respondents recalled that before loan‐taking it had not been possible to participate in any kind of decision‐making, and loan access had brought a radical change in their life. Comments clarified that microfinance access has not improved the quality of life with regard to “spouse relations” (83%) and “quality time with family” (85%) due to changes in the traditional role of women, who were exclusively available for spouse and family before loan‐taking and are now busy with the additional burdens of business mobilization. Though “ability to bear educational expenses” (28%) showed some improvement, the respondents’ comments indicated that despite the presence of free public schools, it is difficult to bear miscellaneous costs related to homework tuition, books, transport, lunch money, and uniforms of school‐going children.

There is mostly no improvement in ability to “purchase prescribed medication” (85%), “nutritional intake of meat, milk and fruit” (92%, 71% and 81% respectively), “cultural and social participation” (82% and 75% respectively), and “visitation to friends and relatives” (84%). Comments indicated that these items were not a priority for women users and their families due to multiple reasons: belonging to an impoverished class, local price inflation, shortage of cash liquidity, regional insecurity, and lack of personal preference.

Table 3.

Descriptive statistics for four categories of quality of life

Regression Analysis

Multivariate logistic regression results in table 4 display the odds of improved quality of life in women users of microfinance. Findings reveal that married respondents (AOR, 0.42; 95% confidence interval (CI); 0.12‐1.53) have lower odds of improved quality of life compared to unmarried women who are single, divorced, widowed, or separated. Similarly women users with literate spouses (AOR, 0.54; 95% confidence interval (CI); 0.21‐1.33) do not display better odds of experiencing improved quality of life over women users with illiterate spouses. Loan‐taking women of longer than one year (AOR, 0.63; 95% confidence interval (CI); 0.06‐2.18) also do not have significant odds of improved quality of life over recent borrowers of less than one year.

Regression results also show that women users who are taking a group loan (AOR, 2.10; 95% confidence interval (CI); 1.51‐2.72) have two‐fold better odds of improved quality of life. Similarly respondents using loan for self (AOR, 2.44; 95% CI; 1.21‐2.94) also have two‐fold better odds of improved quality of life. In addition, women users not receiving loan repayment assistance from household members (AOR, 2.36; 95% CI; 1.19‐2.71) also have twice the odds of experiencing improved quality of life. Both employed categories of skilled users (AOR, 1.43; 95% CI; 1.02‐1.83) and unskilled users (AOR, 1.67; 95% CI; 1.03‐ 2.01) are associated with increased odds of improved quality of life compared to unemployed users. Women respondents attending monthly meetings (AOR, 2.67; 95% CI; 2.12‐2.93) displayed double the odds of improved quality of life. Users receiving skill and development (AOR, 3.14; 95% CI; 2.83‐3.54) from microfinance provider displayed threefold odds of improved quality of life.

Table 4.

Association between quality of life improvements and socio-demographic characteristics of respondents a

Discussion

Microfinance loan availability and financial access ignores the subjective impact resulting from non‐traditional changes in women user’s lives as loan taker. This study contributes to the need to understand quality of life improvements in the lives of women users of microfinance through recognition of non‐economic variables such as familylife, health and decision‐making ability. Our findings confirm that majority women users of microfinance are illiterate and live below poverty lines (Setboonsarng & Parpiev, 2008). The indication is that if they do not re‐take their loan they are in danger of falling further below poverty lines. Thus the presence of microfinance services is critical for women user business sustainability and autonomy in Pakistan. Mainly married women are being provided loans due to their supplementary household income status and credibility in loan returns. Our findings suggest that unmarried, divorced, separated, and widowed clients from more disadvantaged backgrounds are being excluded from loan provision. International research also confirms that microfinance providers limit loan services to exclude the poorest strata (Scully, 2004; Simanowitz, 2000).

Findings of our study confirm other research in that microfinance provision is associated with positive increases in income generation and business investment (Chowdhury, 2009; Doocy et al., 2004; A. K. Ghalib et al., 2011). Other economic quality of life features assessed, including income generation, transport costs, utility expenses and purchasing power of food, have shown not considerable but certain improvement. It is concluded that these are not insignificant discoveries given rising inflation, economic instability, and socio‐cultural constraints against women’s decision‐making and work participation in developing nations and in South Asia (McCarter, 2006).

However major barriers to improvement in quality of life exist in terms of ability to work outside, pay rent, save, and spend quality time with family and spouse. Even though inability to save and afford rent is directly related to poverty levels and inflated prices, the inability to work outside the home and relations with family and spouse are sociocultural obstacles for working women in Pakistan (Sadaquat, 2011). Patriarchal values, male‐dominated work environments, and the absence of substitute help for domestic duties and child‐care all contribute to women’s powerlessness in working outside the home and maintaining a balance in their personal relationships (Hofstetter, 2007).

Our findings add to the literature in that non‐economic quality of life variables of users have been found to show specific improvement with regard to respect from family members, ability to bear educational expenses, ability to cope with work‐related stress, and decision‐making ability for business and family matters. Contrarily prior research from developing regions has suggested that women users do not benefit from microfinance provision in non‐economic areas related to decision‐making ability and family life (Asim, 2009; Hermes et al., 2011). International research suggests that continued investment in microfinance loan provision enables women users to improve non‐economic areas of life related to choice of employment, independent investment of loan, self‐health, self and child education, and household decision‐making (Chemin, 2008; Goldberg, 2005; Jabeen & Iqbal, 2010).

Findings reveal no significant improvement in quality of life related to medical consumption, nutritional intake, and social participation. The implication is that at present there is little awareness, financial ease, and personal willingness of women users to invest in significant areas related to nutrition and health for self and household, contradicting the suggestion of some analysts (Amin, St Pierre, Ahmed, & Haq, 2001). Findings highlight that awareness for health and nutritional needs of women client must be raised to improve health quality of life, reproductive health, girl‐child health, and old‐age health. Analysts confirm that investment in financial access without investment in self‐health is not beneficial for women or their household in the long‐run (Pronyk, Hargreaves, & Morduch, 2007).

International literature has suggested that married women would experience improved quality of life compared to unmarried women due to higher combined household income (Goldberg, 2005). However our study has found that married women do not have higher odds of experiencing quality of life improvements over unmarried women. This is because married women in Pakistan from low income strata have less benefits of marriage due to lack of substitute help for child‐care and domestic duties and discriminatory socio‐cultural values against working women. It is implied that married women need serious support through improved social and community values in order to stabilize domestic relations and gain emotional and physical assistance to manage additional workloads as employed women in society (Syed, Ali, & Winstanley, 2005).

Unlike international research (Duvendack et al., 2011), our findings reveal that repeat clients of microfinance do not experience improved quality of life over new users. This is because repeat clients have not benefited from loan service changes in terms of lower interest rates and larger loans; neither have they been able to emerge from the cycle of poverty due to regional economic constraints, despite timely repayment, and successful completion of loan cycle. Findings confirm the inflexibility of loan portfolio design, dire regional economic conditions of rising inflation, declining purchasing power parity, dependency on loans, and need for microfinance services in developing economies (Bakhtiari, 2011; Littlefield et al., 2003).

Previous studies confirm the association of improved quality of life of user with group loan‐taking and when the loan is used by self (Cheston & Kuhn, 2002; Duvendack et al., 2011; Swain & Wallentin, 2007). Our study confirms these associations with improvement in quality of life. Group loan‐taking improves group solidarity and the social network amongst women of the community and provides emotional bonding whereas the ability to use loan for self‐initiated business has advantages for women’s autonomy and decision‐making power compared to having to hand the loan to a family member. International research confirms that poor women users of microfinance seek the community solidarity and social cohesion afforded by microfinance services even more than they seek financial access and autonomy (Swain & Wallentin, 2007).

Surprisingly, our study findings reveal that users do not have a comparatively significant association with improved quality of life when receiving help from household members for loan repayment in contradiction to what is implied by international research (Goldberg, 2005; Hermes et al., 2011). This is because loan repayment assistance has adverse consequences for women user autonomy in terms of the user’s inability to utilize the loan independently and her being required to pay back assisting family members through non‐financial means. Non‐financial payment by women users was described in terms of having to concede to family decisions, having less choice in business investment, and being forced into an inferior status position within the household.

International literature suggests that skilled workers would experience higher rates of improvement in quality of life compared to unemployed and unskilled borrowers (Kellogg, 2009). Though our study shows a higher rate of improvement in quality of life for employed women over unemployed women, there is nearly comparable improvement in quality of life between unskilled and skilled workers. This is because unemployed women users of microfinance take loans on behalf of male household members and have little benefits that accrue from work participation, business mobilization, independent incomes or decision‐making related to family and business matters (Goetz & Gupta, 1996). With regard to the skilled population of sample, they do not have benefits over the unskilled users because both belong to the informal sector of the economy constrained by low pay, lack of labor contracts, erratic work hours, and absence of substitute help for domestic and child‐care duties. It is thus implied that lack of formal sector employment limits the quality of life improvement in women users of microfinance and reduces their chances for social mobility and business expansion. Our findings confirm other research in that national structural problems related to absence in legal protection for working women, inequality at workplace, and lack of formal sector employment opportunities contribute to female subjugation (Bakhtiari, 2011; Hussain, 2008).

It is predicted that women clients with literate spouses would have improved quality of life (Mukherjee & Kundu, 2012); however, the findings of our study reveal otherwise. Spouse characteristics of basic literacy, belonging to low‐socio economic strata, and informal sector employment do not help improve the lives of women borrowers. The labor ministry and labor laws need to provide desperate attention to minimum wage levels, industrial labor contracts, and labor rights in the country, especially for poor, unskilled, and low literacy population groups (Saget, 2008).

Findings support other research in that monthly meetings with loan officers and skill and development provision by the microfinance provider yield improved quality of life in women users (Rai & Ravi, 2011; Zeller, Lapenu, & Greeley, 2003). Monthly meetings provide a platform for users to discuss their problems, get counseling for improved business decisions, and get updates on loan service changes. Skill and development is beneficial for women users due to their background of illiteracy or basic literacy and inexperience in business dealing and expansion.

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