Women's Financial Vulnerability: Challenges Women Face with Debt and Loans

In August 2020, ARDD collected data from 506 women in Jordan to gauge their financial situation, particularly the impact COVID-19 has had on their financial status including debt. The analysis of the data, combined with information and insight from the 19 Community Based Organizations (CBOs) participating in this project, resulted in rich findings regarding women’s debt. Overall, COVID-19 has exposed the fragile financial situation of women. When looking at different aspects of women’s lives (their legal status, educational level and civil/marital status), data shows that these elements are all critical to understanding the type of debt and the vulnerability of their situations. Along with it, the prevalence of non-institutional actors providing financial assistance to Syrian refugee women raises concern about potential risk of abuse.