Abstract:
Women employed in informal sectors are integral to a nation’s overall economic
growth, and to better development outcomes. This study aims to examine the capabilities
of these women not only in terms of personal empowerment, but in the context of
sustainable development via social inclusion. Previous studies have only focused on
microcredit as a “magic wand” for increasing women's empowerment and their standard
of living, without the inclusion of feminist theory. The inclusion of feminist theory and
social inclusion in the discussion concerning the provision of financial support to women
in Pakistan, allows us to properly examine the role of sustainable development and
women's empowerment in Pakistan. This study is quantitative and descriptive. Using a
survey questionnaire on the cross-sectional data source, the 118 women borrowers of
Lahore, Pakistan, have been investigated by stratified random sampling technique. The
Multinomial logit and Probit regression models have been used for data analysis. The
study's results supported the actuality that women need to be financially and personally
empowered, in order to benefit from greater social inclusion.
