Breaking Financial Barriers: Women's Economic Independence Through Food Delivery Platforms

Food delivery platforms have become an important source of flexible jobs in the dynamic Indian urban economy, providing women with new livelihood opportunities in recent years. With the digitization of workstations redefining the condition of work, this paper sets out to examine how, to what extent, these platforms support the economic empowerment of women in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu. Using primary data based on 271 women involved in formal and informal food delivery services, the study assesses such important dimensions of empowerment as generation of income, mastering financial empowerment, decision-making, and social recognition. The results demonstrate that the use of these platforms increases financial independence and self-confidence among many women, whilst business development and sustainability levels are low. The findings of Garrett are as follows: their ranking results present financial independence and family respect as the most valued outcomes, and the findings of the Chi-square analysis show that there exists a significant relationship between educational level and digital skill barriers. Systemic requirements that are also identified in the study are limitations of capital, safety, digital literacy, and socio-cultural norms, which still slow down the involvement of women completely. The study suggests that the delivery of food through the platforms is a way toward empowerment, yet targeting policy support, design inclusion, and online training are essential to keep access and impact equal. Keywords: Women’s empowerment, food delivery platforms, digital work, gig economy, financial independence, digital divide, gender barriers, informal economy, Coimbatore, platform inclusion