Women's labour force participation and wages are deeply influenced by social norms, and in developing countries, economic growth alone has no robust effect on female employment.
Many economic empowerment programs focus on increasing women's labour force participation. But without addressing their disproportionate burden of unpaid and exhausting care work, women hardly benefit from more hours of paid employment.
Understanding why women are involved in small and micro-enterprise (SME) businesses in Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Uganda, and Rwanda can help governments design policies to support this sector of the economy.