Ilona Kiaušienė

Institute of Social Sciences and Applied Informatics, Kaunas Faculty,

Vilnius University,

Lithuania

ilona.kiausiene@knf.vu.lt

ORCID 0000-0001-7880-7216

Socioeconomic factors associated with the economic empowerment of rural women in European Union countries

Agnieszka Wojewódzka-Wiewiórska

Institute of Economic and Finance,

Warsaw University of Life Sciences,

Poland

agnieszka_wojewodzka@sggw.edu.pl

ORCID 0000-0003-2393-0430

Gintarė Vaznonienė

Department of Business and Rural Development Management,

Faculty of Bioeconomy Development, Vytautas Magnus University,

Lithuania

gintare.vaznoniene@vdu.lt

ORCID 0000-0001-9583-112X

Abstract. This article focuses on rural women's economic empowerment and influencing socioeconomic factors. Economic empowerment is not a spontaneous process in the life of rural women. Still, it requires a lot of effort and is affected by various conditions and factors to be a full member of society. The article aims to identify socioeconomic factors related to the economic empowerment of rural women in European Union countries. The analysis was based on Eurostat data for the years 2013-2022. Results disclosed that special attention in the process of economic empowerment should be focused on rural women with low income, experiencing poverty and social exclusion. Correlation and regression analysis revealed that the economic engagement of women at risk of poverty or social exclusion in rural areas is mainly affected by rural women's age and educational attainment, employment and unemployment status, and income level. According to the results, higher education, special policy tools, and local community support can be considered as measures to facilitate women's economic empowerment in rural areas.

Received:September, 2025

1st Revision: February, 2026

Accepted: May, 2026

DOI: 10.14254/2071-8330.2026/19-2/10

JEL Classification: I24, J16, Z13

Keywords: economic empowerment, rural women, European Union, Lithuania, Poland