Financial stress, financial literacy, and financial insecurity in India's informal sector during COVID-19
behavioral finance; financial hardships; pandemic; personal financial management; street vendors
The lockdowns and restrictions imposed to control COVID-19 have made life miserable for people, especially those involved in informal economic activities. The pandemic induced financial hardships, caused financial anxiety and financial stress among informal sector participants. This study aimed to measure and analyze the financial stress and financial insecurity of one of the important informal sector elements (street vendors) in India. Street vendors in Bangalore were interviewed in this descriptive research through personal interaction and telephonic interviews. The collected primary data were processed using SPSS statistical package. The results have indicated that the pandemic inflicted financial stress on street vendors irrespective of their gender, marital status, age, education, monthly income, and type of product dealt. Financial stress levels varied depending on the number of dependents of street vendors and their business nature. Financial literacy differed according to street vendors' marital status. A person becomes extremely sensitive and cautious in personal finance matters on getting married. Financial stress and financial literacy correlated negatively. 89.5% of street vendors perceived that they had financial insecurity in the future due to this pandemic. The results indicated that financial stress and financial literacy did not affect financial insecurity perceptions of street vendors. The predictors of financial insecurity have been marital status and the number of dependents of the street vendors (r2: 16.6%). However, marital status alone impacted the 6% variance in financial insecurity. This study concluded that the pandemic caused financial stress and financial insecurity among street vendors, but not financial stress and financial literacy. Thangaraj Ravikumar, Mali Sriram, S Girish, R Anuradha, M Gnanendra, 2022.
Ravikumar T.; Sriram M.; Girish S.; Anuradha R.; Gnanendra M.
Investment Management and Financial Innovations, Vol-19, No. 2, pp. 285-294.
https://doi.org/10.21511/imfi.19(2).2022.25 https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85135114196&doi=10.21511%2fimfi.19%282%29.2022.25&partnerID=40&md5=8fedf6c89e6b2d96c3b7bc8be10aec80
Ravikumar T., School of Business and Management, Christ University, India; Sriram M., School of Business and Management, Christ University, India; Girish S., School of Commerce Finance and Accountancy, Christ University, India; Anuradha R., School of Business and Management, Christ University, India; Gnanendra M., School of Business and Management, Christ University, India