Article
Digital Empowerment for Financial Resilience: Budgeting Practices and Planning Behavior of Women in Small-Scale Jobs
Financial planning is important for working women in small-scale jobs in urban India, given irregularities of incomes, her share of household responsibilities, and given rising living costs. Though financial literacy is widely recognized as a key factor of financial behaviour of individuals, the behavioural mechanisms translating knowledge into action in their day to day life remain underexplored in this context. This research study seeks to explore the influence of education, financial literacy and income stability on household financial planning behaviour, with budgeting practices as a mediating variable. As a part of this study, data was collected from 108 women employed in small-scale jobs in Hyderabad region using a structured questionnaire. Data analysis includes statistical tools like: descriptive statistics, correlation, and mediation testing for understanding the hidden patterns. Upon observation of results, it indicate that budgeting practices significantly enhance the financial planning behaviour and partially mediate the relationship between education, financial literacy, and financial planning. Income stability is the key identified as key element and also shows a direct positive effect on promoting financial discipline and planning skills. The study contributes to behavioural finance literature and emphasize the need for targeted financial education and policy interventions for women in informal employment.