Breakthroughs in women’s empowerment: Decision-making power of women in microfinance and financial self-help groups in Jharkhand and West Bengal

This research brief presents results from a series of “Health Diaries”—or frequent surveyor-administered surveys—conducted with 45 women in West Bengal and Jharkhand, India to uncover how low-income women prepare for, cover, and recover from health costs and focuses specifically on household decision-making behaviors and gender dynamics within the household.