In financial systems, as elsewhere, gender norms are pervasive and influence the behavior of all participants it, including consumers, financial service providers (FSPs), policymakers, and providers of supporting functions such as agent networks and credit registries. Deeply embedded behaviors and beliefs driven by gender norms shape the incentives and capacities of financial system actors that in turn influence (either positively or negatively) women’s financial inclusion and empowerment .
Examples of gender norms that affect behavior include :
- Expectations that women must take care of children and prioritize household responsibilities mean that they have less time for running a business, traveling to a financial access point, or attending training
- Restrictions on women’s freedom of movement limit their understanding of markets and business opportunities and make them dependent on men
- Expectations that women should not manage their own finances separately from that of the household or their husband, especially that women should not have their own savings, reduces their personal agency and decision-making power
- Lack of control over their income can also make women reluctant to apply for loan
- Expectations that women should do “women’s work” mean that they are often segregated into lower margin service sectors such as hair salons and petty retail
- Expectations that household assets should be in the name of men mean that women lack collateral to access finance
- Expectations that men should be the main breadwinner in the household mean that women may hesitate to grow their own enterprises
The prevalence of these gender norms means that even when financial inclusion interventions increase women’s access to financial services, those women may not be able to behave in a manner that fully exercises their agency without facing sanctions from family or the community. In some cases, such interventions can exacerbate rather than ameliorate gender disparities.
Successful women’s financial inclusion interventions therefore must start by understanding how and why women’s experiences in the household, community, and workplace are different than that of men. Successful approaches can either work within prevailing gender norms and their impact so that efforts to influence changes in the market system account for the different needs and capabilities of women that result from these norms (norm-informed interventions) or they can aim to change norms in order to enable behavior change that leads to increased women’s financial inclusion and economic empowerment (norm-transformative interventions).