A STUDY ON FINANCIAL LITERACY OF WORKING WOMEN IN MSMES WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO KOTTAYAM CITY

Financial Literacy involves both concept and application. There are several factors that influence the financial literacy among the individuals. Women have lower financial literacy levels than men in both developed and developing countries. Including women in the financial mainstream and making them financially literate are among the most important action areas. The aim of this paper is to study the level of financial literacy among working women in MSMEs and to identify the factors influencing the financial literacy. The study is conducted in Kottayam city of Kerala state and primary data has been collected through questionnaire for this study. The collected data were analysed through ANOVA and Chi-square test. The study reveals that most of the women have basic knowledge about LIC, health insurance but some of them are still unaware about it. Most of the women actively participate in the financial decision for the family and they don’t have the freedom to spend the money they earned. They have limited knowledge about the securities. Thus, they should attend financial management courses, workshops etc. to know about the other investment option.