Financial Literacy and Socio-Economic Status: Evidence from the Tribal Region in Central India

Financial literacy of individuals helps in better financial decision-making (such as (such as saving, investment, and insurance) and achieving financial satisfaction in life. This becomes even more important for people in people in tribal regions due to lower economic empowerment. However, the Central India region is under-researched and underserved for various reasons. The primary focus of this research paper is to identify the levels of financial literacy based on socio-economic status (income, education, employment) and demographic (age, gender) factors of the people living in Anuppur district (MP) and Gaurella, Pendra and Marwahi (CG) in central India. A descriptive and survey research design is adopted. It uses cross-sectional data and has 176 responses. Our dependent variable, financial literacy, literacy, is measured on a Likert 5-point scale, and our independent variable, socio-economic status, is categorical. We analysed the data with the help of IBM SPSS version 26 and used the One-Way ANOVA, Welch Anova Games-Howell Test, percentage analysis, and other relevant statistical tools. The results of the study indicate that income, education, and gender have a significant relationship with financial literacy, while employment literacy, while employment and age suggest that suggest that no significant relationship exists. This is one of the few studies on financial literacy and the economic status of people in the tribal region, which significantly contributes to the existing literature and provides a foundation for future research.