A Sociological Study on the Impact of Microfinance on Women’s Empowerment on Household Survivals

Poverty remains an obstacle to achieving sustainable development and improving people’s well-being worldwide. Currently, “microfinance is the process of delivering a wide range of financial services to poor people who do not have access to a formal financial institution” (Ridhaala,2003). That is, a banking service provided to unemployed or low-income people or groups who otherwise do not have access to financial services. Women currently make a strong contribution to the workforce. Therefore, women’s empowerment is one of the central objectives of the development process in countries around the world. In this context, this study was conducted focusing on the issue of “the impact of microfinance on household survival”. The main objective of this study is to identify the reasons that influence women to resort to microfinance and to study the impact of microfinance on household survival. The mixed research methodology was used with the non-probability sampling method. This study was conducted in the Weliwiti Divithura Divisional Secretariat Area of the Galle District. 50 women who are interested in obtaining microfinance loans were selected as the sample using snowball sampling and data collection was carried out through structured interviews and questionnaires. Quantitative data was analyzed using SPSS software and qualitative data was analyzed using the thematic analysis method. According to the findings of this study, women are inclined to obtain loans from microfinance institutions because of the ease of access and are not aware of the high interest rates offered by these institutions. The study also concluded that the money received in this way is not used to raise the economic status. It can be concluded that this situation is a major factor in creating problematic situations in the domestic life of women.