A Study on Financial Independence and Financial Decision-Making Autonomy of Women

Financial independence is deemed to be the backbone of decision making autonomy. The women have been subservient to men in matters of financial decision making through ages in patriarchal societies. The dominance of service sectors and demands for soft skills in modern times has made female participation possible in paid work. Financial independence empowers women to have sufficient resources to support themselves without being dependent on others. Female financial decision-making involves the capacity of women to make decisions on finances, investments, and other economic activities without interference from others. The present study analyzes how the financial independence of women influences their financial decision-making autonomy. A structured questionnaire is designed by the researchers and a primary survey is undertaken to analyse the research questions. The results show that financially independent women and financially dependent women both have almost similar decision making autonomy with regards to Financial Decisions and Investment Decisions. However, financially independent women are having more autonomy with regards to Family Security Decisions. Financially independent women show more autonomy on issues like consultation with others for taking a personal loan, purchase of LIC policies for family security, hospitalization of family member, purchase of any vehicle, and investment in fixed deposits.