ABSTRACT
First, in spite of the current enthusiasm in development circles for supplying women with small amounts of credit in order to facilitate an increase in entrepreneurial activity which will raise household income, the ways in which women use financial resources underline intricate connection between productive and reproductive activities rather than the separation between them. Credit for poor women and men has been most successful amongst relatively recent immigrant groups - from Central America or South East Asia - who bring with them both the experience of using money in trade for survival and also familiarity with a range of informal credit networks. In other countries in the North the residue of historically organized welfare benefits has also militated against the attractiveness of borrowing for poor groups. The studies presented here should, therefore, raise a note of caution to those who would be inclined to stress too strongly the continuity in women's use of credit over time and in different countries.
