IMPACT OF CREDIT FACILITIES ON THE STANDARD OF LIVING OF MEMBERS OF WOMEN CO-OPERATIVE SOCIETIES IN KADUNA STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

Credit facilities is a type of loan made in a business or corporate finance context which allow the borrowing parties to take out money over an extended period of time. Women co-operative society are a voluntary association of women who work together to promote their economic interest. This study was on the impact of credit facilities on standard of living of members of women co-operative societies in Kaduna State, Nigeria. However, this work focuses on the quality of feeding and quality of healthcare of the members of women cooperative societies in Kaduna State, Nigeria. The study had two specific objectives, two research questions and two null hypotheses. The study adopted longitudinal survey design. The population was 1049 members of women co-operative societies in Kaduna State, Nigeria who benefited from credit facilities of Bank of Agriculture from 2013 to 2018. The entire population was used as sample. The instrument used for collection of data was a structured questionnaire titled Women Co-operative Society Credit Facility Questionnaire (WCSCFQ). Mean and standard deviation were used to answer the research questions. The hypotheses were tested using paired simple t-test at 0.05 level of significance. All the hypotheses were rejected because their calculated p-values were less than the alpha value of 0.05. The findings of the study, among others showed that credit facilities improved the standard of living of the women because the feeding of members of women co-operative societies was better after benefiting the credit facilities in Kaduna state, Nigeria (t=48.446, p=0.000). Three recommendations were made, among which was that the Federal Government of Nigeria should put in more efforts into providing credit facilities to women by constantly reviewing to ensure that the purpose of the credit facilities is achieved.