The embracement of women's perspectives, the search for them, and the enhancement of women's status through training, education, awareness, and literacy are some ways to characterise women's empowerment, also known as female empowerment. Women who are empowered can respond to many societal concerns by choosing how to live their life. They could be able to reinterpret responsibilities related to gender or other categories, which would provide them more freedom to accomplish their goals.
Women's empowerment is a topic of much discussion in the domains of development and economics these days. Empowered women in the economy can make good use of their money, assets, and resources. It also improves women's ability to manage risks and overall well-being.
It could prompt attempts to protect devalued gender roles in a particular political or social context. While the phrases are sometimes used synonymously, the more inclusive concept of gender empowerment highlights the distinction between gender and biology as a function and applies to individuals of any gender. Women's status is improved through literacy, education, training, and awareness-raising. Another definition of women's empowerment is their increased ability to make informed life decisions, something they were not able to accomplish before.
Adopting policies and initiatives that support the idea of female empowerment could be beneficial for communities, businesses, governments, and other organisations. Women's empowerment increases the quantity and quality of human resources available for development.
A number of concepts describe women's empowerment, one of which being the requirement that one must first be disempowered in order to be empowered.
They have to actively seek empowerment rather than waiting for it to come to them from elsewhere. Another body of research indicates that empowered individuals are capable of making important life decisions and are able to carry them through. There was a time when empowerment and disempowerment were synonymous; empowerment is a process as opposed to a final product.
Scholars have recognised two forms of empowerment: political empowerment and economic empowerment.
Empowerment of Women Financially
Neoliberalism's push since the 1980s has prioritised independence and competitiveness as measures of economic success. Individuals who do not conform to the prevailing neoliberal values of society, along with their identifying communities, are often met with disdain and have a higher likelihood of experiencing low self-esteem. Two groups that do not fit into the idealised neoliberal image are the unemployed and lower class members.
Neoliberalism has notably had a negative impact on women's self-worth through its welfare reform initiatives. It is the belief of Mary Corcoran and associates that welfare reformers on the right side believe that dependency on benefits reduces poverty. This forces welfare reformers to raise the bar for receiving help, which lowers the number of those who are dependent on it. Time limits and job duties are two of these restrictions that push women into the labour sooner. The impression that unpaid carers and single mothers are a burden on the American economy is reinforced by the ongoing push to increase the number of women in the workforce. Women are therefore forced to balance their responsibilities to their families and their homes with low-paying, unstable jobs.