The Family Network Support And Disparity Among Rural-Urban Women Informal Entrepreneurs: Empirical Evidences From Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Pakistan

Families and businesses have been separated from one another, but are intertwined in case of women entrepreneurship. Women participation in economic and business activities has enhanced the employment ratio as well as boosting up the living standard through supporting their families financially. However, the development has been always unequal. This study aims to investigate the rural-urban disparity among women home-based entrepreneurs in District Mardan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Data were obtained through questionnaire in the rural-urban location from 504 participants who were engaged in informal home businesses. Descriptive and chi-square analysis were performed to test the association among variables. The results showed that significant disparity in the rural-urban location was found in the products offered, family financial status, family network support in finance and sales and markets. These women entrepreneurs should expand their business network to reduce their dependency on their family for support which can put a bar on their decision making. To empower women and reducing rural-urban inequality gap, the government should provide the financial support for the expansion of their entrepreneurial activities.