Microcredit, the practice of extending small loans to women who work in the informal economy, aims to help women achieve financial empowerment and independence. The research on microcredit, however, has tended to ignore how the context of women’s household relations can complicate this goal. This report of an ethnographic study of women’s participation in microcredit in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, indicates that male partners’ behaviors can both facilitate and limit women’s use of loans and repayment strategies. The article concludes with a discussion of how relational and family dynamics may be considered in the design of future economic development programs, such as savings initiatives.
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