In many developing countries, programs offering collateral-free credit
have integrated economic improvements with consciousness-raising, fam
ily planning information and motivation, preventive health services an
d other activities that promote social welfare. A 1995 household surve
y of the program areas of five nongovernmental organizations in rural
Bangladesh that offer such credit programs reveals that women who part
icipate in them are more likely to use contraceptives, to want no addi
tional children and to desire smaller families than women who do not p
articipate or who live outside of program areas, Increased empowerment
was associated with the desire for no more children among credit memb
ers. Nonmembers living in program areas also desired smaller families,
suggesting a diffusion of norms established by credit members to othe
r women in the community.