THE EFFECT OF GENDER ON FINANCIAL LITERACY

Abstract

Financial literacy is the ability of an individual to take informed decisions on basic financial practices. Financial literacy is essential not only for the individual but also for the development of the markets of a country. In order to develop the markets of a country, education has to be provided to everyone starting from the individuals with the lowest position. Thus, providing quality finance education contributes to the development of both the individual and the economy of the concerned country. This study investigates the relation between financial literacy level and gender of individuals. It was attempted to determine whether gender affects the level of financial literacy and what is the extent of this effect. In order to test this relation, an online survey was applied to 602 people living in Turkey with a randomly selected sample. A regression analysis was conducted with the obtained data to determine the existence of the relation and the Anova analysis was conducted additionally. Then, the direction and level of the data were found by the correlation analysis. The study found out which gender had more sufficient financial knowledge and determined the gender of the individuals who needed to receive finance education. In addition, the investment knowledge of men and women were compared and the effect of gender difference on financial literacy was determined. As a result of the analyses, it was concluded that gender has no significant effect on financial literacy, that the financial literacy is affected by financial education and that there will not be any difference between men and women if women are educated and equipped with financial information as a part of the society