Factors Contributing to Economic Empowerment of Women Heads of Rural Households: A Case Study of Kordestan Province of Iran

The main objective of this study is to specify and analyze the determinants of the level of economic empowerment of women heads of households in rural areas of Kordestan province. The study is a descriptive-survey which was carried out in 2008. The sample size was equal to 180 women heads of households which was selected by systematic random sampling method and the data were collected by a questionnaire. In addition to reliability through Cronbach’s alpha and test – retest, the reliability of research tool was examined. The results from data analysis indicated that 24% of women heads of rural households under study were economically empowered and 40.7% were half way through it. The degree of empowerment among the widowed women was highest and among divorced ones was lowest. Analyzing the level of empowerment for the group under study indicated that social insurance, level of development, employment diversification, value of assets and time length of activity in a linear form could explain 71% of variance in economic empowerment of women heads of rural households.