EFFECTIVENESS OF FINANCIAL LITERACY ON THE SAVING BEHAVIOR OF RURAL WOMEN

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to assess the level of financial literacy among rural women which assess the influence of socio-economic factor on their level of financial literacy. At the same time the study also attempts to analyses the effectiveness of financial literacy in improving rural women’ saving behavior. Overall this study has attempted to encourage the importance of financial literacy in rural area.
Methodology: Data for the study is gathered from both primary and secondary sources. The questionnaire is created using available literature and is used to collect data from respondents. In this case, 110 people were considered for the study. The study area includes the Mangaluru Taluk towns of Soorinje, Haleyangadi, Pakshikere, Porkodi, and Madya.
Findings: As per the results, most of the rural women invest their savings in the financial institutions but do not invest their savings in the mutual funds and shares and securities because they don’t have much knowledge about these and they feel it is a riskier investment. It is found that lack of education is the main reason for not getting sufficient financial information. Furthermore, Socio-economic factors of the rural women significantly impact their level of financial literacy. Lastly and importantly the study has shown that financial literacy significantly influences saving behavior of rural women
Implications: This study has proved supports the ideology that Women who are financially literate can make better financial judgments. As a result Indian government has implemented numerous initiatives, many of which are geared toward women. More awareness programme should be undertaken with this regard. The government should focus on the unreached segments of the population and provide basic financial services. Their financial engagement would benefit the economic development of our county.
KEY-WORDS: Financial Literacy, Rural Women, Saving behaviour, Socio-Economic Factors.