Daily Bread: Women’s Self-Help Microfinance and the Social Meanings of Money

Esther Bott, Shalini Ojha, Sunita Mini, Rajeev Kamal Kumar, Sunil Choudhary, Gil Yaron and Alan R Smyth
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Esther Bott: University of Nottingham, UK
Shalini Ojha: University of Nottingham, UK
Sunita Mini: A.N. Sinha Institute of Social Sciences, India
Rajeev Kamal Kumar: A.N. Sinha Institute of Social Sciences, India
Sunil Choudhary: Centre for Promoting Sustainable Livelihood, India
Gil Yaron: Rojiroti UK, UK
Alan R Smyth: University of Nottingham, UK

Sociological Research Online, 2023, vol. 28, issue 2, 442-461

Abstract: In this article, we explore the impacts and implications of ‘Rojiroti’, a women’s self-help group (SHG) microfinance scheme operating in poor communities in Bihar, India. We focus particularly on how improvements found in women’s circumstances and in children’s health might result from Rojiroti SHG membership. Through data from 5 focus groups and 19 individual interviews with women in communities where Rojiroti operates, we discover how the scheme is regarded and how it affects women’s management of household budgets. Moreover, we explore the relational aspects of SHG microfinance and the ways that it can alter family and social dynamics. Drawing on notions of ‘earmarked’ money and ‘safeguarded’ money, we argue that the money itself has meaning and non-pecuniary value in the form of other currencies, including power and agency, which can lead to the improved well-being and health of families.

Keywords: children’s health; India; microfinance; self-help groups; social meanings of money; women’s status (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:socres:v:28:y:2023:i:2:p:442-461

DOI: 10.1177/13607804211058745

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