Gendered financial resilience: understanding women’s financial responses to economic shocks

Purpose This study aims to examine the financial resilience of rural and unemployed women, focusing on how exposure to economic shocks influences coping strategies and financial recovery. This study also examines institutional support as a contextual factor associated with women’s financial resilience amid structural and gender vulnerabilities. Design/methodology/approach Using a quantitative approach, Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling was used to analyze the relationships among economic shock exposure, coping strategies and financial resilience outcomes, including mediation effects. Findings The results of this study indicate that economic shocks significantly increase women’s reliance on informal coping strategies, which positively influence their financial resilience. These findings are consistent with an indirect association between economic shock exposure and financial resilience through coping strategies. However, limited financial awareness and inadequate institutional support constrain women’s recoveries. Originality/value This study contributes to the limited literature on rural women’s financial resilience in socioeconomically marginalized regions. Integrating resilience and coping theories within a gendered framework offers critical insights into how informal and institutional mechanisms interact to shape financial recovery and inform more inclusive and gender-sensitive policy interventions.