DETERMINANTS OF SAVING BEHAVIOUR OF WORKING WOMEN HOUSEHOLD HEAD IN ARBA MINCH TOWN, GAMO GOFA ZONE, SNNPR

Abstract

It is a clear and undisputable fact that savings is of great value to a nation’s growth and development. Mobilizing both domestic and international savings is necessary for any society to proceed into self-sustaining economic growth. Higher savings has been proven to precede economic growth. Therefore the analysis of saving is the analysis of issues of growth and development. This study therefore sought to examine the determinants of savings behavior of working women household heads using the surveyed data from selected household heads from Gamo Gofa Zone, SNNPR. A cross-sectional data was collected from a sampled population of 216 sample sizes using systematic sampling method. The structured interview, focus group discussion and personal observation were used to collect data. Collected data was analyzed by stata version 11 software packages. Tobit regression analysis was used to understand the factors that influence the possibility of the level of savings of households. Thus as income increase the mean savings also increase and those people living in the urban areas have highest saving and it is statistically significant. Savings increased with age and the highest savings was recorded at 32 years beyond which savings begin to decline. The availability of financial institution affects saving positively but people have information gap. As people increased their level of educational attainment, their mean savings also increased and as the number of household size increased, the level of savings decreased. Unmarried or single also saved higher than married couples. Thus unplanned expenditures tend to take the bulk of people savings than the planned expenditures. The study therefore recommended for government policies to be geared towards subsidizing the cost of higher education since it induced higher savings. Also sensitization programs on National Health Insurance Service should be intensified to enable many people to enroll on the program since those registered with the scheme had higher savings.