Social Inclusion of Women Entrepreneurs in Informal Sector of Uttar Pradesh

Abstract

Women empowerment is the need of the hour for every developing economy to build a system of socially balanced labour force required for increasing the pace of economic development. For this the participation rate of women in labour force is enhanced. But the role of women who are engaged in informal economy cannot be left unnoticed. There are women who are a part of unorganized/informal sector and are earning a livelihood for themselves and their families by being self employed. Thus this paper identified five major types of women entrepreneurs in unorganized sector who are self employed in business like Beauty Parlour, Tailoring, Retail Shops, Grocery Shops and Food/Tiffin System. This paper identified and brought out the socio economic status of women entrepreneurs in unorganized sector of Jhansi City where the major concentration of women workers was acknowledged in the beauty parlour industry followed by tailoring. From the studied total self-employed women workers major women workers were of Hindu religion and from General category. Women Entrepreneurs are facing some challenges like Financial Constraints, Lack of managerial skills and shortage of time, Societal Concerns, less reliance of customers on female entrepreneurs, Family Issues, Male dominance society and Awareness Problem etc.