Do empowered women receive better quality antenatal care in Pakistan? An analysis of demographic and health survey data

Introduction Quality antenatal care is a window of opportunity for improving maternal and neonatal outcomes. Numerous studies have shown a positive effect of women empowerment on improved coverage of maternal and reproductive health services, including antenatal care (ANC). However, there is scarce evidence on the association between women’s empowerment and improved ANC services both in terms of coverage and quality. Addressing this gap, this paper examines the relationship between multi-dimensional measures of women empowerment on utilization of quality ANC (service coverage and consultation) in Pakistan. Methods We used Pakistan Demographic and Health Survey 2017–18 (PDHS) data which comprises of 6,602 currently married women aged between 15–49 years who had a live birth in the past five years preceding the survey. Our exposure variables were three-dimensional measures of women empowerment (social independence, decision making, and attitude towards domestic violence), and our outcome variables were quality of antenatal coverage [i.e. a composite binary measure based on skilled ANC (trained professional), timeliness (1st ANC visit during first trimester), sufficiency of ANC visits (4 or more)] and quality of ANC consultation (i.e. receiving at least 7 or more essential antenatal components out of 8). Data were analysed in Stata 16.0 software. Descriptive statistics were used to describe sample characteristics and binary logistic regression was employed to assess the association between empowerment and quality of antenatal care. Results We found that 41.4% of the women received quality ANC coverage and 30.6% received quality ANC consultations during pregnancy. After controlling for a number of socio-economic and demographic factors, all three measures of women’s empowerment independently showed a positive relationship with both outcomes. Women with high autonomy (i.e. strongly opposed the notion of violence) in the domain of attitude to violence are 1.66 (95% CI 1.30–2.10) and 1.45 (95% CI 1.19–1.75) and times more likely to receive antenatal coverage and quality ANC consultations respectively, compared with women who ranked low on attitude to violence. Women who enjoy high social independence had 1.87 (95% CI 1.44–2.43) and 2.78 (95% CI 2.04–3.79) higher odds of quality antenatal coverage and consultations respectively, as compared with their counterparts. Similarly, women who had high autonomy in household decision making 1.98 (95% CI 1.60–2.44) and 1.56 (95% CI 2.17–1.91) were more likely to receive quality antenatal coverage and consultation respectively, as compared to women who possess low autonomy in household decision making. Conclusion The quality of ANC coverage and consultation with service provider is considerably low in Pakistan. Women’s empowerment related to social independence, gendered beliefs about violence, and decision-making have an independent positive association with the utilisation of quality antenatal care. Thus, efforts directed towards empowering women could be an effective strategy to improve utilisation of quality antenatal care in Pakistan.

Do Access to Finance, Technical Know-How, and Financial Literacy Offer Women Empowerment Through Women’s Entrepreneurial Development?

The motivation of the study is to gauge the effects of access to finance, technical know-how, and financial literacy on women’s empowerment through establishing women’s entrepreneurial development. A sample of 950 women-owned SMEs was considered, and structured questionnaires were sent from getting target responses. After careful assessment through the data cleansing procedure, it was found that only 795 responses are suitable for further investigation, implying the sample response rate for the study is 74.71%. The study implemented structural equation modeling and multivariate regression analysis for gauging the causal association that is direct and indirect effects of target variables. According to findings, a positive statistically significant linkage was revealed with women’s entrepreneurship sustainability and women empowerment. Furthermore, the mediating effects were also established for women’s empowerment. According to the study findings, it is suggested that for women entrepreneurship sustainability, effective policies surrounding financing accessibility, technical knowledge expansion, and financial understating have to be promulgated in the economy, which allows bringing women empowerment at large.

Women's empowerment and fertility preferences of married women: analysis of demographic and health survey’2016 in Timor-Leste

<abstract> <p>A recently independent state, Timor-Leste, is progressing towards socioeconomic development, prioritizing women empowerment while its increased fertility rate (4.1) could hinder the growth due to an uncontrolled population. Currently, limited evidence shows that indicators of women's empowerment are associated with fertility preferences and rates. The objective of this study was to assess the association between women empowerment and fertility preferences of married women aged 15 to 49 years in Timor-Leste using nationally representative survey data. The study was conducted using the data of the latest Timor-Leste Demographic and Health Survey 2016. The study included 4040 rural residents and 1810 urban residents of Timor-Leste. Multinomial logistic regression has been performed to assess the strength of association between the exposures indicating women's empowerment and outcome (fertility preference). After adjusting the selected covariates, the findings showed that exposures that indicate women empowerment in DHS, namely, the employment status of women, house and land ownership, ownership of the mobile phone, and independent bank account status, contraceptive use, and the attitude of women towards negotiating sexual relations are significantly associated with fertility preferences. The study shows higher the level of education, the less likely were the women to want more children, and unemployed women were with a higher number of children. Our study also found that the attitude of violence of spouses significantly influenced women's reproductive choice. However, employment had no significant correlation with decision-making opportunities and contraceptive selection due to a lack of substantial data. Also, no meaningful data was available regarding decision-making and fertility preferences. Our findings suggest that women's empowerment governs decision-making in fertility preferences, causing a decline in the fertility rate.</p> </abstract>

Analyzing the Role of Micro-Entrepreneurship and Self-Help Groups (SHGs) in Women Empowerment and Development

In India, societal development is a cynosure, and thus, it is not a truism but a reality. Women's entrepreneurship emerging through self-help groups (SHGs) contributes to the economic well-being, sustainability, and in poverty reduction. The growth of SHGs is evidence in itself. In the recent decade, micro enterprises and SHGs have come up as prominent solutions to the entrepreneurial crisis existing in the country, and their role in empowering women and their development needs to studied. This study uses a descriptive statistic, reliability, and correlation analysis through SPSS and structural equation modeling (SEM) as an analytical tool to explore linkages between empowerment effected by SHG and micro-entrepreneurship. The research study results show that the contributory role of women entrepreneurs to the society is considerably worth appreciation. The causal relationship has also surfaced demonstrating the connection between women empowerment and development brought about by SHG and micro-entrepreneurship from a bottom-of-pyramid perspective.

Promoting Gender Equality and Women Empowerment in the Tourism Sector

Gender equality and women empowerment constitute a longstanding topic since the issues have never been fully addressed, although some progress has been made. The tourism sector is one area that seems to have more opportunities for women and, thus, less gender inequalities. However, cases of discrimination are still experienced. Hence, this chapter explores the situation of gender equality and women position in the field of tourism and establish the causes of the problem in the sector. The opportunities for females and avenues of achieving fairness and empowerment are also discussed.

The Role of Microfinance in Africa

This chapter examines the role of microfinance in developing countries, particularly Ghana and Nigeria. The chapter begins with an overview of the link between microfinance, poverty, and women empowerment in the chapter introduction. The background to the chapter sets out the main difference between microfinance and microcredit. The role of microfinance in contemporary development finance is then discussed. In this context, existing literature on the role of microfinance in reducing poverty, women empowerment, and microenterprise growth is extensively reviewed. Key solutions and recommendations are then presented next, followed by future research direction and the chapter conclusion.