The Gendered Relationship Between Debt Attitudes, Debt Literacy and Debt Stress: A Case Study of Rural Poor Households in a Developing Country

There has been limited systematic exploration of the intersection of poverty, gender, and psychological well-being; particularly in developing countries. Analysing data from a representative sample of both male and female primary financial decision-makers of 608 rural poor households in Kerala, this exploratory study examines the gender dimensions of the relationship between three latent concepts—debt-related stress, debt attitudes, and debt literacy—under multiple economic constraints. Findings indicate that the debt attitudes of our respondents can be characterised by three dimensions; general acceptability of debt, circumstantial acceptability of debt, and debt prudence. Consistent with prior findings, significant gender differences in debt stress and debt literacy were observed, with females typically reporting higher degrees of debt stress and lower levels of debt literacy compared with males. The study highlights the role of gender in predicting debt stress; with debt attitudes being key predictors for males, while individual-level factors such as financial decision-making power, income, and educational attainment explain more of the variation in debt stress among females. The analysis further provides preliminary evidence for the potential influence of male decision-makers’ debt stress and debt attitudes on the level of debt stress experienced by female decision-makers within the same household. From a policy perspective, the study advocates gender-specific and targeted financial education and financial literacy programmes, complemented by public policies aimed at improving material conditions of the population to mitigate the overall debt stress experienced by the rural poor in developing countries.