Women’s Owned Home-based Enterprises: A Pathway to Women Empowerment in Southern Punjab, Pakistan

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Department of Economics, The Government Sadiq College Women University, Bahawalpur, Pakistan

2 Department of Computer Science and Information Technology, The Government Sadiq College Women University, Bahawalpur, Pakistan

3 Department of Economics, University of Sargodha, Punjab, Pakistan

10.22059/ier.2024.333725.1007317

Abstract

Women’s home-based enterprises not only improve the household livelihood but also serve as a major source to empower women entrepreneurs. The study examined the effectiveness of women-owned home-based enterprises in women empowerment in Southern Punjab, Pakistan. Likewise, the study explored the socioeconomic barriers and motivational factors in their work engagements. A multistage sampling technique was employed to collect the information from the women entrepreneurs. For this purpose, the study selected three Divisions, and 500 women entrepreneurs were interviewed from four Tehsils of three Districts in Southern Punjab. The research endeavor employed quantitative research methods supported by qualitative data. The study found that the major motivational factor was income followed by job satisfaction while the most common barriers to women entrepreneurs were social norms, children of age less than three years, lack of finance, price discrimination, and lack of space. The study estimated the multidimensional women empowerment index and found that the DG Khan region was the most deprived region in women empowerment. The regression results of the multiple linear regression model showed that the personnel income of the women entrepreneurs and their age were the most important determinants of women empowerment in this region. The analysis also showed that the women fetching their income from beauty parlors were the most empowered in the Southern Punjab. The study revealed that there is potential for women-owned home-based enterprises to raise economic activity and women empowerment in the region through home-based enterprises.

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Iranian Economic Review
Volume 28, Issue 2
June 2024
Pages 619-638

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