MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: “Gendered Social Norms in Financial Inclusion: A Diagnostic Study from Southeastern Turkey,” by Adriano Scarampi et al, published by CGAP

Through this qualitative study on how social norms impact women’s “access to and use of financial services,” the authors explored potential interventions for promoting women’s financial inclusion. They interviewed 93 members of southeastern Turkey’s Arab population. This community was selected because Turkey’s financial-inclusion gender gap closely resembles that of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region as a whole, and the country holds other geographical and cultural similarities to the Arab world, therefore increasing the likelihood of the findings being relevant across MENA.

The first three sections of the paper provide background information, describe various social norms and define the methodology of the study. The fourth section identifies the role of “gendered social norms” as they pertain to “four key financial products: bank accounts and savings, business loans, insurance, and digital financial services.” The fifth section analyzes four social norms, including the enforcement, evolution and “perceived prevalence” of each. The final part of the manuscript covers the implications of the findings and proposed interventions to promote women’s financial inclusion.

The authors’ findings include:

1) Approximately two thirds of the women interviewed have their own bank accounts, and among women entrepreneurs, account ownership was 80 percent. However, women are less likely than men to perform banking transactions due to a fear of committing errors and their husbands tracking their transactions and spending. Most women desire financial privacy, which may prompt them to open bank accounts in secret or save money informally with family or friends. According to one social norm, women do not need to save because men should act as providers; women who wish to save are seen as having alternative motives, such as giving money to their extended family or preparing to seek divorce. Another factor hindering women from opening bank accounts is the perception that it is “less acceptable” for women than men to use financial products that are not compliant with sharia, Islamic law.

2) While there is growing acceptance of women owning small businesses, women are not likely to take out business loans for reasons including: a) pressure to keep one’s business small enough to avoid interfering with caregiving responsibilities; b) fear of community rejection or incarceration if unable to repay a loan; c) not being taken seriously by lenders when applying for loans without a male present; and d) not wanting to be perceived as “intimidating, controlling, and even emasculating.”

3) Although some interviewees attested that insurance makes them feel safe, respondents demonstrated limited understanding of and willingness to learn about insurance, which is often considered a “luxury.”

4) While new financial service providers are “entering the digital space,” few have designed products specifically for women. The use of payment cards is associated with wealth and hence not given serious consideration. “Digital banking applications” are used less commonly among older women, who tend not to trust technology. Another barrier is lack of privacy, as men often have control over women’s use of mobile phones.

5) Among the other social norms in play is the idea that “Women should not have assets in their own name.” These norms are largely shaped by friends, mothers-in-law and other family members as well as the community in general.

The authors propose the following areas for intervention: 1) Identifying where norms are evolving, so product design can target and encourage those are beginning to break a norm, “contribut[ing] to overall relaxation of a norm and encourag[ing] others to break it;” 2) engaging the private sector and government to celebrate norm breakers, encouraging those who disagree with a norm but lack sufficient confidence to break it; 3) executing “targeted messaging and awareness” efforts to demonstrate inconsistencies in perceptions of norms, such as when women follow a norm because they think others, such as husbands and extended family members, have stronger feelings about the norm than they actually do; and 4) developing strategies that promote financial inclusion while working around stubborn norms or advocating government action against norms, such as changing inheritance laws to require sharing of asset evenly among family members.

By Jessica McLeod, Research Associate

This is a summary of a paper by Adriano Scarampi, Dima AlBashar and Deena Burjorjee; published by CGAP (Consultative Group to Assist the Poor); July 2020; 48 pages; available at https://www.findevgateway.org/sites/default/files/users/user331/CGAP_GenderNorms_Final-Web.pdf

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