Savings can be one of the channels to fight poverty among people living in rural areas. Saving is an important macroeconomic variable that can promote economic development through improving the country’s gross domestic product. This study investigated how digital technology use, mode of savings, and disposable income influence the savings of the household head in rural areas of Uganda.
Methodology: FinScope 2018 secondary dataset was used. A sample of 578 household heads living in rural areas and available during the interview were selected for this study. A binary logistic regression model was adopted.
Results: Results show that household heads with some primary (not P.7) were 1.872 (OR=1.872, p=0.029, CI=(1.064-3.295)), some secondary completed (not P.6) were 2.391 (OR=2.391, p=0.017, CI=(1.166-4.902)), and ended P.7 were 2.365 (OR=2.365, p=0.019, CI=(1.150- 4.863)) times more likely to save compared to those who had never gone to school respectively. Again, household heads with disposable income were 2.486 times more likely to hold than those who never had (OR=2.486, p=0.000, CI=(1.694-3.649)). With the mode of savings, household heads who were saving with village savings and loan associations (VSLA) were 5.897 times more likely to save than those who used banks. Also, household heads who had access to mobile phones were 1.696 times more likely to save compared to those who had access to computers (OR=1.696, p=0.066, CI=(0.966-2.977)) with access to mobile phones was 1.696 times more likely to save than those with
Conclusions and recommendations: Education level, disposable income, VSLA, and access to mobile phones support household head savings in rural areas. Financial and digital education should be encouraged to improve the saving culture among people in rural areas.
Keywords: Savings, digital use, rural areas, disposable income, household head, Uganda
Citation: Hellen Namawejje, John Ssebyala, Robert Wadada, Christian Uwamungu, Titus Omuuti, and Amon Tusingwire, (2022), Digital technology use, mode of saving, disposable income and saving among household heads in rural areas of Uganda, International Journal of Social Science and Economic Research, Volume 7, Issue 12, pp 3990- 4007, ISSN: 2455-8834, DOI: 10.46609/IJSSER. 2022.v07i12.010
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