Social Inclusion of Women Entrepreneurs in Informal Sector of Uttar Pradesh

A Case Study of Meerut District

Abstract

Every emerging economy urgently needs to empower women in order to create a system of socially balanced labour force needed to accelerate economic development. Because of this, the rate of employment for women is higher. Women's contributions to the informal sector, however, cannot go ignored. In the unorganized/informal sector, there are women who work for themselves and their families as independent contractors. Thus, the five main categories of women entrepreneurs in the unorganised sector—self-employed in businesses including beauty parlours, tailoring, retail stores, grocery stores, and food/tiffin systems—were identified in this paper. In Meerut City's unorganised sector, where the beauty parlour and tailoring industries have been recognised as having the highest proportion of women workers, this paper identified and highlighted the socioeconomic position of women entrepreneurs. From the overall number of self-employed women studied, the majority belonged to the Hindu faith and to the General group. Women entrepreneurs face a number of difficulties, such as financial constraints, a lack of managerial skills and time, societal concerns, a decrease in the number of customers who support them, family issues, a male-dominated society, and awareness issues, among others.