Feminization of the Economy

Female market power is growing across the globe. In the 1980s and 1990s economic activity of woman grew in every nation except for Oceania, sub-Saharan Africa, and the former Soviet states according to a report issued in January by the United Nation's Millennium Project. According to this report, by 2002 women in such countries as Britain, New Zealand, and Finland held more than half of the nonagricultural jobs. But despite their gaining power, women in developing countries rarely get to qualify for commercial bank loans. Lack of collateral is a huge reason why these woman are denied loans. But as far as micro finance loans go, woman in these developing nations receive the bulk share. Why? Simply because women pay back their loans a lot more reliably than men do. For example, in Japan many women are unofficially the "finance minister of the family," and give weekly allowances to their husbands and children. Now banks and investment houses are lining up to set up divisions specifically for female clients.