The week is almost over! Here are some interesting things I’ve read recently about women and development (thanks to my friends and colleagues for finding them and letting me share). Cover photo of me, a woman, since I don’t like taking photos of random women (or anyone)…
The transformative power of giving young women cash by Dan Kopf
Giving young women no-strings-attached cash decreases their HIV rates and reduces intimate partner violence. Qualitative interviews in Malawi suggest the prevalence of STDs in young women with cash transfers went down because they were choosing younger men to date, rather than older men who would provide for them financially and would be more likely to want sex. Globally, cash transfers lead to lower domestic violence because of women’s increased empowerment in their relationships and decreased household financial stress.
Unfortunately, the benefits go away as soon as the money goes away. However, the article suggests potential long-term solutions. One is combining cash transfers with education. Another is government-run cash transfers (and I would add other social services), sustainable over the long term.
Launching a practical guide to measuring women’s and girls’ empowerment by Lucia Diaz-Martin, Rachel Glennerster, and Claire Walsh
Interesting guide from J-PAL on measuring women’s empowerment: basically, it’s not simple to measure. Different ways of asking whether a girl can travel where she wants, for example, might provide different results: a girl might be allowed to travel to school, but not to other events she wants to attend. The guide provides broad indicators of women’s empowerment and specific examples of questions to get at these indicators asked in different country/cultural contexts.
Gender-Differentiated Digital Credit Algorithms Using Machine Learning: Measuring women’s empowerment, study led by Sean Higgins
Gender-differentiated credit scoring changes and may increase the number of women approved for credit, based on this pilot study in the Dominican Republic. I’m interested to see where this goes!
Women of Color Get Asked to Do More “Office Housework.” Here’s How They Can Say No. by Ruchika Tulshyan
A bit different from the others, not necessarily development-related, but interesting. Women of color get asked to do more “office housework” tasks, like ordering lunch, that are time-intensive and don’t lead to promotion. Unlike men, they are also penalized when they turn down these tasks. This guide offers practical advice on how to say no, including being informed, practicing, and rotating these tasks among the office.