Gender & Political Economy
Explorations of South Asian Women
By Dr Shweta
November 2010
MD Publications
Distributed by
ISBN: 9788175332478 
291 pages
$49.50 Hardcover
Most of the countries in the region are undergoing rapid social and economic change. The obstacles to women's participation in and benefits from these changes mean that the potential contribution of half of the population of these countries is either unutilized or underutilized, signifying an economic loss to the country. The direct links of expanded opportunities for women, especially in education and improved health and education of children, easing of environmental pressure, improved nutrition poverty reduction, and sustainable development, indicate that under-investment in women is an uneconomic proposition. Keeping women at the margins of development could prove detrimental of the overall development efforts and goals of the country.
Likewise improving women's access to financial services contributes to poverty reduction as it enables women to contribute to household income and family welfare, thereby making the transition out of poverty easier for their families.Extending such services to women also makes good economic sense for financial internediaries, as women have shown themselves to be better savers, leading to greater savings mobilization, and better repayers resulting in fewer bad effects.
