Driving financial resilience through formal savings among the low-income population

The research observed notable differences in financial security between young adults and older adults; young adults were more frequently unemployed, studying, or working temporary jobs compared to older adults. This was also reflected in reported incomes, as a higher proportion of young adults are earning less than
or around the national minimum wage in the target countries than older adults. Young customers were more likely to have been saving informally (42%), or not saving at all
(15%) prior to opening their savings accounts, compared to adult customers. This underlines the program’s impact in deepening access to formal savings products for young customers. Young customers were most compelled to save in case of unexpected emergencies, as reported by an average of 44% of them. (By comparison 34% of adults were saving for unexpected emergencies.) Given that the majority of young customers opened their savings accounts during the COVID-19 pandemic and have lower earnings
than adults, it is not surprising that many aimed to establish ‘safety nets’ that would enable them to cope with unforeseen emergencies.
Additionally, about 30% of young customers were also saving toward a specific goal, such as a dowry, celebration, studies, or others. Lastly, a quarter of young customers were saving with the intent of investing in a business. Research commissioned by Scale2Save in 2019 found that young adults exhibited a strong preference for self-employment. Young adults expressed a greater preference for self-employment over a steady job, and this appeared to strengthen with age. This study also found that young adults, and particularly young men seek to diversify their income sources to reduce risk. Together these factors likely contributed to young adults’ increased resilience to provide for their futures.