SOUTH COTABATO JOB ORDER EMPLOYEES’ FINANCIAL LITERACY

INTRODUCTION
Financial literacy is an essential life skill that has an important impact on the individual, family
well-being and on the broader economy. It is the ability to make informed judgments and to
make effective decisions regarding the use and management of money (Schagen & Lines,
1996). Financial literacy leads to better financial health. Various surveys and studies show that Filipinos’
financial literacy remains low for years. But are they familiar with the idea of financial literacy?

According to a 2016 Standard and Poor's Global FinLit Survey, a country's financial literacy rate has
direct correlation with its economic development. In the case of the Philippines, only 25 percent of
Filipinos are financially literate, trailing behind other Asean countries, based on World Bank's 2014
Financial Capability Survey (Piatos, 2022).

Filipino adults were among the least knowledgeable about their personal finances, presenting a major
constraint to equitable economic development (Montecillo, 2015). The people who have less idea with
regards to financial literacy are those who don’t have access to gain that knowledge. Singh (2019) said
that part of the reason the poor stay poor is a lack of financial literacy.

Problems in budgeting usually start during the time an individual generates income and manage
expenses of their own in short when an individual starts to get a job or become an employee.
Some common concerns for being an employee are centered in the ability to maintain the
adequate income that are sufficient to cover living expenses especially working as a Job order
employee in the government setting.

Many Filipinos have low income and that includes the job order government employees. Civil Service
Commission (Resolution No. 021430) defines Job Orders as “refers to the hiring of a worker for piece
work or intermittent job of short duration not exceeding six months and pay is on a daily or hourly basis.
A status where budgeting is a little hard and financial knowledge is necessary.

The headline inflation in the Philippines accelerated to 6.9 percent in September 2022, from 6.3 percent
in August 2022. This is the highest recorded inflation since October 2018. In the context of the rising
inflation, without the basic know-how on managing finances, people will be more at risk of making
wrong decisions on how and where to save and invest their money (Zaldarriaga, 2022). High inflation
reduces the purchasing power of households. For households whose incomes barely
cover their usual expenses, their employed members are likely to want to work more
hours to earn the income that would allow them to at least maintain their consumption
pre-high inflation.

This study aims to understand the financial literacy among Government Job Orders of
South Cotabato. Specifically, it sought to measure their understanding of the basic
financial concepts in terms of managing their own finances amidst low income and
extant inflation.
 Objective of the Study
The main objective of this study was to identify the determinants of financial literacy
levels among Job order employees.
To achieve the general objective, the following specific objectives guided the study;
1. To examined the level of financial literacy of Government Job Order employees of South
Cotabato
2. To determine the effect of job status on financial literacy levels among Job order employees.