Women and the Microfinance Revolution (Half the Sky Chap. 11) #sjbc

This post is part of the April Social Justice Book Club. This week we are discussing Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide by Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn.

Conversation Questions for Chapter Eleven:

Sixty-five dollars …Consider the number and extent of lives changed by this one initial microloan to Saima?

Check out microloan resources mentioned in the book. Do you have a group of friends who could make small loans together? Maybe your Bunco group? Book Club? Sunday School class?

“Because men now typically control the purse strings, it appears that the poorest families in the world typically spend approximately ten times as much (20 percent of their income on average) on a combination of alcohol, prostitutes, candy, sugary drinks, and lavish feasts as they do on educating their children.” Pg. 192

The gender differences surrounding the utilization of resources appear to be quite significant. Can it really be as simple as reallocating funds to women? What cultural factors allow these men to spend income on, what we consider to be, frivolous, and immoral purchases? How do religious beliefs possibly support this lifestyle?

Could our communities, companies, and/or churches benefit from more women in leadership? If so, how? If not, why?

Source: The above questions come from the organization Global Women.

Please share with us your responses to the questions above or any thoughts or questions you have about women and microfinance in the comments section below.

The Social Justice Book Club is a project of Independence Rock Group: Center for Faith, Ethics, and Social Justice. Please consider supporting the Social Justice Book Club and our other projects. Find other posts about the Book Club and Half the Sky here.