Investigating the Women's Multiplier Effect and Propensity for Community-Oriented Spending

Abstract

Among international development conventions, the most common in the gender empowerment field is: When you invest in women, they re-invest 90 percent back into their families and communities. This rate is considered exceptionally high, especially as the publicized average for men is only between 30 to 40 percent. Women’s superior re-investment rate can be found cited by the most diverse range of international donors, implementers, and experts on women’s empowerment. This study analyzes gender, age, marital status, and education level, which may complement gender as control variables to potentially better predict spending habits and investigate women’s choice to invest more in their communities. The analysis also offers recommendations on how policymakers and development professionals can best align their programming efforts to maximize the effectiveness and expectations of gender-targeted economic empowerment activities.