Impact of microfinance on gender equality in Indonesia

The empowerment of women micro entrepreneurs is necessary for the holistic social-economic development of a nation. The aim of this paper is to address the gap in the study of formal financial access to rural women micro-entrepreneurs in Indonesia. This study will contribute further in the pool of academic resource for micro-financing organisations intending to create formal financial products for this niche market. Meta-analytic research methodology was employed to review relevant literature, in order to assemble supporting data relating to women's constraints for access to formal micro-finance for women. As a result, a hypothesis was devised that gender inequality is the underlying constraint for rural women entrepreneurs to access formal microfinance. Evidential data was reviewed for factors pertaining to gender inequality index, general and financial education status, and social-cultural norms of rural Indonesian women. In conclusion, the authors found that gender inequality issues require further attention by micro financers during the design process of successful micro-financial products. In addition, relevant recommendations were formulated such as aesthetic redesign of financial outlets, reduction in lead time and costs for micro-financial transactions, and micro-insurance. Further research is required to conduct a test of the generated hypothesis at the location under discussion