Dependence of Households on the Micro-credit Programme and the Women’s Financial Contribution: An Evaluation with Application of the Propensity Score Matching Method

Abstract

This paper examines the dependence of the household on the micro-credit movement (SGSY) for accessing the credit and generating income. Households’ dependence on the SGSY movement have been analyzed through the household’s dependence on other sources of credit, size of SHG loan, contribution of SHG loan to total loan, size of SHG income, contribution of SHG income to total income. The study also explores the effects of the participation in the micro-credit programme on women’s financial contribution to their family by using the propensity sore matching methods. The data used in this study have been collected through a field survey in the Midnapore district of West Bengal. One of the important conclusions from this part of our study is that the households dependence on the non institutional sources of credit is higher among the households of the members of the control group as compared to that of the treatment group and the micro-credit programme participants financially contribute more to their family support than the non-participants.