Women's access to credit and position in rural households in Vietnam | |
| Author | Pham Thi Le Anh |
| Call Number | AIT Thesis no.GD-01-02 |
| Subject(s) | Rural women--Vietnam--Finance Rural credit--Vietnam |
| Note | A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science, School of Environment, Resources and Development |
| Publisher | Asian Institute of Technology |
| Series Statement | Thesis ; no. GD-01-02 |
| Abstract | Development planners believe that women's economic empowerment happening on a significant scale will in tum have a noticeable impacts on levels of poverty and well-being. Credit for women has been a common entry point of interventions. However, the household is not a single unit with a unified function coordinated by an altruistic head of household, but consists of individuals with different interests, responsibilities, functions and perceptions (Sen, 1990). Resources that enter the household are not distributed equally among members of the household (Kusakabe, 1999: 411). As discussed by various feminist scholars, these intra-household gender relations and the gender division of labor can mediate women's control over economic resources and their engagement in income-generating activities. The consensus of women's access to credit, women's engagement in income-generating activities and changes in gender relations inside the household cannot be taken for granted. It should be open to investigation in a specific context. Analysis in this research suggests that the shift from a centrally planned to a market oriented economy and in Vietnam has brought about various changes in rural livelihood in Tu Ky district, Hai Duong Province. Changes in rural livelihood after Doi moi and households' responses to these changes have different impacts on women. Credit is important for women as a means of generating income. However, women's access to credit seem not to be the direct magic bullet leading to their economic empowerment and changes in the position vis-a-vis the husband. Alterations in power relations between women and men inside the household as described in this research seem to be created by women's economic contribution but by changes in women's gender roles. Finally, the process from women's access to credit, to economic changes and changing their position inside the household is not straightforward. It is influenced by the context of individual household as well as wider social economical environment, which contains existing gender stereotypes and patriarchy ideology. |
| Year | 2001 |
| Corresponding Series Added Entry | Asian Institute of Technology. Thesis ; no. GD-01-02 |
| Type | Thesis |
| School | School of Environment, Resources, and Development (SERD) |
| Department | Department of Development and Sustainability (DDS) |
| Academic Program/FoS | Gender and Development Studies (GD) |
| Chairperson(s) | Resurreccion, Bernadette P.; |
| Examination Committee(s) | Kusakabe, Kyoko;Dale, Reidar; |
| Scholarship Donor(s) | Norwegian Agency Development for Cooperation |
| Degree | Thesis (M. Sc.) - Asian Institute of Technology, 2001 |