Microlending

You asked, we answer: Can microloans lift women out of poverty?, By Nurith Aizenman, November 1, 2016, National Public Radio: “‘I would like to know more about microloans, and if they are in fact helping women start businesses in the developing world.’  That’s the question our readers wanted us to look into.  You’ve probably heard the stories. A desperately poor woman in a poor country gets a tiny loan — a couple hundred dollars. It’s the break she’s always needed. With that money she can finally buy the materials to start a small business. She turns a profit. Her income rises. Now she has money to expand her business even further, buy her kids more nutritious food, pay their school fees. Over time, she lifts her whole family out of poverty.  That’s the vision often associated with microloans in the popular imagination.  But is it the reality..?”