Abstract:
Few studies were conducted to indicate the influence of microfinance on the life of clients, especially
women. Even though such types of studies that critically assess the impact of micro finance on women's
~conomic empowerment have been conducted so far, they did not analyze connection between economic
r empowerment through microfinance institutions and marriage stability. Given this knowledge gap this
research tried to examine the influence of women 's economic empowerment on their marriage stability by
taking eleven married women who are empowered economically by receiving loan from ACS! and are
participating in the income generating activity of the informal sector in the city of Bahir Dar. In the
course of investigating this problem primary and secondary sources of information were used. The data
which is gathered through these methods is analyzed thematically. Based on the analysis of the data the
result revealed that women's economic empowerment had both positive and negative impact on
st~bilization ojmarriage. But the positive effect is more pronounced than the negative. Out of the total
eleven women respondeiits nine claimed their marriage strengthened due to economic empowerment
while the rest two responded the opposite. The effectiveness or inefficiency of economic empowerment to
affect marriage positively or negatively depends on the success or failure of the business activity in which
women are involved. Economic empowerment brought so many positive changes among the majority of
the empowered women while deteriorating some others. Women registered positive changes in their
income, their participation in household decision making increased, the attitude and the perception that
they had to themselves improved, respect and recognition from the community increased, and above all
household relationship is stabilized with the beginning of women's participation in the informal economic
activity-using loan. But there are some women who exercised the disempowering effect of microfinance.
To keep the stabilizing influence that loan brought on marriage and minimize failures in business activity
in. some families MF!s like ACS! and other concerned bodies should work in collaboration. In this
rlsearch it has been seen that failure in MF!s is attributed to the disappearance of one of the group
member to pay debt back. So ACS! should come up with a mechanism of checking individuals with such
behaviors before they deceased taking the money. The result also revealed that changes in th~ traditional
genaer roles of women are making children, especially girls, to carry more burdens. This will have effect
on their education. So micro finance lending programs should be seen from children's perspective.