Financial Inclusion And Sustainable Entrepreneurship: Catalysing Women’s Empowered Livelihoods In India

Abstract

This Study Investigates The Role Of Digital Literacy As A Mediator Between Enabling Factors—access To Finance, Training And Skill Development, Institutional Support, And Technology Adoption—and Women’s Empowered Livelihoods. A Sample Of 416 Respondents Was Analyzed Using Descriptive Statistics, Reliability Tests, Exploratory And Confirmatory Factor Analyses, And Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) With AMOS. Results Indicated That All Independent Variables Significantly Influenced Digital Literacy, Which In Turn Strongly Predicted Women’s Livelihood Empowerment. Cronbach’s Alpha Values Exceeded 0.80 Across Constructs, Confirming Internal Consistency, While EFA And CFA Validated The Measurement Model With Acceptable Fit Indices. SEM Results Further Established Digital Literacy As A Central Mechanism Translating External Enablers Into Empowerment Outcomes. Moreover, Policy And Social Capital Were Found To Moderate The Relationship Between Digital Literacy And Women’s Livelihoods, Suggesting That Supportive Environments Amplify The Benefits Of Digital Skills. The Findings Align With Capability And Social Capital Theories, Underscoring That Empowerment Is Shaped Not Only By Individual Competencies But Also By Institutional And Social Contexts. This Study Contributes To The Literature On Gender And Digital Inclusion By Providing Empirical Evidence From A Developing Economy Context. The Implications Emphasize The Need For Integrated Interventions That Combine Financial Inclusion, Digital Training, Institutional Support, And Favorable Policies To Promote Sustainable Women’s Empowerment In The Digital Era.

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