Women in Handicrafts Business

World Bank statistics say, women constitute 40% of the total population. However, women are seen more as home makers. They are not considered income generators, and that's common all over the world. On the occasion of International Women's Day, it seems to be the right time to evaluate the role of women, especially the home makers, in the world economy.

Women Home Workers' Role in the World Economy - The Case Study
Women are fast taking up working from their homes resulting in additional household income. The highest percentage of women workers can be seen in textiles & clothing, food processing, and handicrafts sectors. According to a recent international study of the United Nations Population Fund, the income generated from such work is equivalent to 1/3 of the global economy. Although this kind of work is not included in calculation of the national income, its actual value exceeds 4000 trillion dollars annually.

The most significant fact is that these home based businesses conducted by women are not only prevalent in developing countries, but also in other European Countries and United States as well. An international study was conducted in this regard which revealed that about 46% of home business owners in the United States are women whose income exceeds those working in offices by 28%. A woman who does a business from home saves a big portion of her income as opposed to a woman who works outside. The later spends about 40% of her income on grooming and transportation.

Popular Handicrafts Businesses among Women
More and more women are engaging themselves in handicrafts business. However, they operate their businesses on a smaller scale from home. In this way they can utilize their time and energy along with taking care of their children and home. Such most popular businesses include tailoring, food processing and handicrafts.

Many options are there for home based handicrafts business. The only requirement for such business is to be creative, to be ready to spend some time, and a little knowledge about making arts and crafts. Making candles, fashion jewelery, embroidered crafts such as embroidered home furnishings are very popular as they need only basic training and the skills improve as time goes. As the expenditure on raw materials needed for such handicrafts is very low and the demand very high, they can prove to be very profitable. Apart from these handicrafts, other advanced handicrafts such as metal craft and sculptures ( made from such common materials as stone, paper, wood, ceramics, clay etc.) is also popular but on a very small scale as they need a good amount of investments.

Other than making crafts, the related businesses such as trading in antiques is also very popular. This only needs a trained eye, creative understanding and some business acumen. However, this type of business also require a good amount of investment if one prefers to collect antiques before selling them but when one provides a communication link between the seller and the buyer, it can turn to be a low investment- high earning option for creative women.