Effect of Women Economic Empowerment by Islamic Banking on Household Economic Resilience

Economic empowerment of female entrepreneurs is a long-term development agenda aimed at increasing the active role in achieving household economic resilience. The National Pension Savings Bank (BTPN) Syariah is Islamic banking that follows the principle of financial inclusion. This bank provides financing and assistance to unbanked, productive, and underprivileged women. Therefore, this study aims to analyze the impact of empowering female micro-entrepreneurs on household economic resilience during economic crises. A mixed-method approach was used, combining quantitative and qualitative models to assess the impact of empowerment initiatives carried out by BTPN Syariah on economic resilience of underprivileged, productive women. The sample comprised 290 customers from designated locations in West Sumatra Province, Indonesia. Data collection was carried out through in-depth interviews and distributing questionnaires to customers and parties from BTPN Syariah. Subsequently, data analysis was conducted using descriptive and inferential statistics. A normality test, paired sample t-test, and Wilcoxon signed-rank test were used to analyze statistical data. The results showed that empowerment program conducted by BTPN Syariah had a significant impact on household economic resilience of women entrepreneurs, as shown by income, property ownership, education financing, and savings. However, a small fraction of economic resilience, as assessed by income and savings, diminished due to the financial crisis. This result shows that empowerment by BTPN Syariah impacts economic resilience of women in MSME families. In conclusion, the group-based empowerment program can serve as a role model for Islamic banking, government, and other non-governmental organizations in empowering female entrepreneurs.