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23 January 2025

Between Paychecks: Gaps in Liquidity Management among Low-Income Women

Low-income women workers in rural Karnataka, India, face financial struggles due to short-term liquidity issues. Despite steady incomes, many resort to informal loans or cutting back on essentials like food, healthcare, and education, impacting their well-being. A study of 834 garment factory workers (October 2023–July 2024) reveals coping mechanisms like reducing expenses, deferring payments, or borrowing small interest-free loans. Nearly 27% reported cutting expenditures, with food and school fees most affected. The findings highlight the need for accessible financial products and support to improve women’s financial resilience, reduce stress, and enable better management of routine and unexpected costs.

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16 January 2025
Anahit Tevosyan, Scott Graham, Nathaniel Mayende, and Joeri Smits

What happens if a woman is given the responsibility of the household? A WEE-DiFine study conducted in Uganda finds that more usually than not the burden of financial responsibilities falls squarely on the woman, without allowing her to save. This blog underscores the importance of the local context for rigorous measuring of women’s economic empowerment while giving insights into specific measures of economic empowerment related to women’s savings behavior.

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17 December 2024
Zarif Bin Islam

The optimism surrounding Bangladesh’s future has grown since the July 2024 Movement, but not equally for everyone. The first round of BIGD’s pulse survey conducted right after the uprising reveals an unsettling trend—while overall optimism has increased, the gender gap has widened. The optimism gap between men and women has grown from three percentage points in 2022 to eight percentage points in 2024, suggesting women are increasingly less hopeful about the future than men.

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12 November 2024
Tasnuba Sinha

BIGD has once again made significant strides in advancing women’s economic empowerment through two Requests for Proposals (RFPs) in 2024. This year marked the first call for WEE-Connect, which along with WEE-DiFine, aims to build a robust research pipeline in the Global South. These initiatives have resulted in the selection of high-impact studies that will deepen our understanding of how digital connectivity and financial services empower women economically.

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5 November 2024
Zarif Bin Islam

In the aftermath of the July 2024 Movement, student politics has come under critical scrutiny, fueled by allegations of the Bangladesh Chhatra League’s violent suppression of student-led protests during the movement. Data from the first round of BIGD’s pulse survey, conducted just two weeks after the fall of the Awami-led regime, revealed a striking consensus: 81% of respondents supported banning party-centric student politics on campus, while 84% advocated against party-affiliated teachers’ politics. These numbers show a clear picture of the post-revolution public sentiment.

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24 October 2024
Samyuktha Kannan and Francesco Cecchi

A randomized controlled trial with 1,765 Kenyan farmers tested a new crop insurance model offering mid-season payouts, customized to farmer preferences. Results show that most farmers, especially those facing food insecurity, prefer staggered payments. Women, often less financially empowered, requested fewer, larger transfers near harvest. Willingness to pay for the timely-pay insurance was significantly higher than traditional insurance, with the new model reducing the uptake gap between men and women. This innovation shows promise for improving insurance effectiveness amid climate challenges.

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24 October 2024
Zehad-Al-Mehedi

ভাবনার চর্চা করা গণতন্ত্র বিকাশের অন্যতম একটি অনুষঙ্গ। সাম্প্রতিক গণঅভ্যুত্থানের পর দেশে বিভিন্ন স্তরে, নানা প্রক্রিয়ায় ভাবনার কাজটি এগোচ্ছে। সেই ভাবনার হাত ধরেই মুক্তচিন্তা, জবাবদিহিতা, প্রশ্ন করার স্বাধীনতা ইত্যাদি বিকশিত হবে বলে দেশের মানুষ আশাবাদী। তাই আজকের বাংলাদেশ ২.০-তে আমাদের ভাবনার পরিসর বাড়িয়ে দেশের বিকাশ ঘটানোর পন্থা খোঁজার সময় এসেছে।

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21 October 2024
Anahit Tevosyan, Nathaniel Mayende, Scott Graham, and Joeri Smits

A recent WEE-DiFine-funded study in Uganda explored how the fluid and communal structure of Ugandan households affects women’s economic empowerment (WEE). Researchers found that frequent changes in household size, due to factors like child relocations and polygynous family structures, deeply influence women’s daily lives and economic autonomy. The study highlighted that WEE measurement must account for the broader household dynamics, as restrictions on women’s agency often come from multiple family members and evolving circumstances, not just spouses. These insights reveal the complexity of WEE in Uganda, offering a more nuanced understanding for future research.

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21 October 2024
Tasnuba Sinha

Digital connectivity is vital for women’s empowerment in Bangladesh, offering access to education, healthcare, and economic opportunities. However, barriers like socio-cultural norms, digital illiteracy, and economic constraints persist. Initiatives like BIGD’s WEE-DiFine and WEE-Connect are addressing these challenges through research-driven solutions. The recent political upheaval, marked by the government’s collapse in August 2024, poses risks to digital inclusion but also presents opportunities for reform. To ensure progress, Bangladesh must expand digital literacy, reduce economic barriers, prioritize online safety, and collect gender-disaggregated data, fostering collaboration to secure women’s place in the country’s digital future.

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16 October 2024
Zarif Bin Islam

How did the Sheikh Hasina-led Awami League regime evolve into a seemingly invincible, authoritarian government over its 15 and a half years of rule? How has the recent mass uprising, resistance, and revolution led to the fall of the autocratic regime? What could Bangladesh’s democratic future look like in light of the evolving political landscape? In the first episode of Tong Conversations, the speakers discussed, over tea, the future of democracy in a post-revolution Bangladesh.

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