THE ROLE OF MICROFINANCE IN THE FIGHT AGAINST WOMEN’S POVERTY: BURSA EXAMPLE

Abstract

The concept of poverty, which is closely related to the whole world in recent years, has been the subject of multi-faceted
researches in our country as well as in the world. In general, poverty is the inability of people to meet their basic needs such as
food, clothing and shelter in order to maintain their minimum living standards. Women constitute the largest share of poverty.
Women's poverty is more severe compared to men, and the number of poor families, the female head of households, makes
fighting against women's poverty important. It is known that gender inequality in society, women's position in the household,
low education level and working at low wages increase women's risk of poverty more. There have been many solutions around
the world to reduce or eliminate women's poverty risks. One of these solutions is the microcredit system. Microcredit is a trustbased finance program that does not require warranties and guarantees that enable women to engage in income-generating
activities on their own.
The aim of this research is to determine the effectiveness of micro-credit application in the fight against women poverty in
Bursa scale. The study has been analyzed by means of the SPSS program by applying questionnaires to women who are
members of the loan program and reached the following conclusions. It was seen that women benefiting from micro-credit
were generally satisfied with this practice, their self-confidence increased, their income levels increased, and the income they
obtained from the credit was used in order to meet their basic needs and to improve their current business. According to the
findings, it is concluded that micro-credit application is an effective application in the fight against female poverty in Bursa.