Gender differences in financial sources and perceived financial satisfaction among older people in Vietnam

2.9 36.6 40.5 29.5 42.3 36.2 Total 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 Table 8: Older people’s financial satisfaction, by assets and debts (%) Source: Authors’ calculations from VNAS 2011 Financial satisfaction Total Financial Assets Debts YES NO YES NO Dissatisfied 62.5 41.00 65.1 76.5 56.5 Satisfied 37.5 59.00 34.9 23.5 43.5 Total 100 100 100 100 100 Journal of Economics and Development Vol. 18, No.2, August 201652 Table 9: Determinants of older people’s financial satisfaction Notes: *, **, *** denote statistically significant Beta coefficient at the 10, 5 and 1 percent significance level respectively; (ref.) denotes the reference groups. Source: Authors’ calculations, using VNAS 2011 Model 1 (Male) Model 2 (Female) Individual Characteristics Age 60-69 (ref.) - - 70-79 0.278 -0.680*** 80+ 0.517* -0167 Marital status Non-married (ref.) - - Married 0.104 0.015 Residential Area Rural (ref.) - - Urban 0.424* 0.687*** Education level High school and more (ref.) - - Under High school -0.439* -1.063*** Working status Non-working(ref.) - - Working 0.261 0.067 House ownership No (ref.) - - Yes 0.094 -0.623*** Financial Factors Children-to-parents supports No (ref.) - - Yes 0.572** 0.556*** Parent-to-children supports No (ref.) - - Yes 0.453 0.061 Other land ownership No (ref.) - - Yes 0.321 0.557* Having any financial assets No (ref.) - - Yes 0.419 1.028*** Having any debt No (ref.) - - Yes -0.440 -1.148*** Journal of Economics and Development Vol. 18, No.2, August 201653 on financial satisfaction. The results imply that this group was more likely to be satisfied with their finances than was the group of the males aged 60-69. Despite the lack of a specific im- pact on those aged 70-79, we may see that the higher age group had a higher chance for fi- nancial satisfaction for males in Vietnam. The results for men were the same as those found in previous studies. For example, Burholt and Windle (2006) revealed that an increase in age correlated with an increasing change in finan- cial satisfaction, despite decreases in material resources. Also, Hansen et al. (2008) agreed that older people were more financially satis- fied than the none-elderly, while their earning is substantially less than mid-age persons. The opposite is true in Model 2. Negative signs and a high level of statistical significance (at a 1 percent level) imply that women, who are aged 70-79, were more likely to experience financial dissatisfaction than the younger fe- males. Thus, for females, more advanced aged females might have lower possibilities for fi- nancial satisfaction. This is in contrast with re- sults from previous studies. Zurlo (2009) indi- cated age and females are positively significant factors for the financial satisfaction of older people. The results indicate that marital status and working status were less likely to have sig- nificant impacts on the financial satisfaction of older people. For both models, married or non-married variables could not be seen as de- terminants of financial satisfaction, where all coefficients for both men and women are not statistically significant. This is different from the results of Hariharan (2012), in which mar- ital status was the most significant variable in increasing the financial well-being of rural old- er people. In both models, working status did not show any statistically significant impacts on the fi- nancial satisfaction of older people. This im- plies that working was not an important deter- minant of the perceived financial satisfaction, despite it being an important source of income for older people. This result was also found in Burholt and Windle (2006), in which working or being employed was not important for the financial well-being of older people. In terms of house ownership, the regression hardly shows a statistically significant result for males. In contrast, the model for females shows that house ownership has a negative and statistically significant impact on financial sat- isfaction (at a 1 percent level). This means that women owning houses were less likely to be satisfied with their financial status. Hong and Swanson (1995) provided a similar finding. In regard to living areas, the results from both models show that older people living in urban areas expressed more satisfaction with their financial circumstances than did those liv- ing in rural areas. More importantly, the resi- dential area was a statistically significant deter- minant of older females’ financial satisfaction. Interestingly, education level was statisti- cally significant in both models. In particular, male and female older people having educa- tion at high school and higher levels were more likely to be financially satisfied than those hav- ing education at a lower than high school level. This result was the same as that of Hira and Mugneda (1998) and Zurlo (2009). While age and urban living had significant and positive impacts on the financial satisfac- Journal of Economics and Development Vol. 18, No.2, August 201654 tion of male older people, those with an educa- tion at under high school level were less like- ly to be satisfied with their financial situation. For females, except marital status and working status, most of their individual characteristics were statistically significant. In particular, fi- nancial satisfaction among women was nega- tively related to age, a low level of education and house ownership. For the children financial flows, coefficients of variable Children-to-parents support (CTP) are significant at a 1-percent level and are posi- tive in both models. The results show that older people who received financial assistance from their children felt more satisfied than did those who received nothing from their children. This means that financial support from children played an important role in the financial satis- faction of the Vietnamese older people. Conversely, financial support from older people to their children was not statistically significant in both models. Therefore, it is pos- sible to say financial transfers from older peo- ple to their children hardly contributed to their financial satisfaction. For the issues relating to allocating and us- ing financial resources, while having financial assets was not significant in the male model, the logistic model for females shows a high level of significance and a positive impact on financial satisfaction. Thus, women having savings were more likely to feel satisfied with their financial status. Similarly, although having debt is an import- ant variable, the regression for males shows no statistically significant result. For women, the results again indicate a highly significant level for this variable. While owning additional land is not a statistically significant variable for old- er men, it is positively and significantly related to financial satisfaction for older women. This result was also found in Hong and Swanson (1995), Hira and Mugneda (1998), Burholt and Windle (2006), and Hansen (2008). While debt is always seen as a negative factor for financial satisfaction, owning financial assets (such as savings, interest and insurance payments, and rent) positively influences older people’s finan- cial satisfaction. Table 10 shows the results for marginal effect models, which imply magnitude of impact as well as level of probability. In regard to the age of older people, males aged 80 and over had a 12.3 percent higher probability of financial sat- isfaction than those aged 60-69. The opposite is true in Model 2 (for females), in which females aged 70-79 had a 14.9 percent less probability of financial satisfaction than those aged 60-69. It is also shown that male and female per- sons living in urban areas had a 9.9 percent and a 16.2 percent higher probability of financial satisfaction than their counterparts living in ru- ral areas, respectively. Education level had a clear impact on older people’s financial satisfaction. It is shown that a lower level of education made both males and females have a 10.4 percent and a 25.9 percent lower probability of financial satisfaction than those with a higher level of education, respec- tively. These results are similar to those found in Hira and Mugneda (1998). Women owning houses had a 14.9 percent lower probability to be financially satisfied than their counterparts. This is also found in Hong and Swanson (1995). For additional land ownership, women were more likely to be sat- Journal of Economics and Development Vol. 18, No.2, August 201655 Table 10: Marginal effects for financial satisfaction Notes: *, **, *** denote statistically significant Beta coefficient at the 10, 5 and 1 percent significance level respectively; (ref.) denotes the reference groups. -. Dy/dx is for discrete change of dummy variable from 0 to 1 Source: Authors’ calculations, using VNAS 2011 Model 1 (Male) Model 2 (Female) Individual Characteristics Age 60-69 (ref.) - - 70-79 0.065 -0.149*** 80+ 0.123* -0.038 Marital status Non-married (ref.-single, divorced, widowed, others) - - Married 0.024 0.0034 Residential Area Rural (ref.) - - Urban 0.099** 0.162*** Education level High school and more (ref) - - Under High school -0104* -0.259*** Working status No working (ref.) - - Still working 0.06 0.015 House ownership No (ref.) - - Yes 0.021 -0.149*** Financial Factors Children-to-parents support No (ref.) - - Yes 0.126*** 0.122*** Parent-to-children support No (ref.) - - Yes 0.107 0.014 Other land ownership No (ref.) - - Yes 0.075 0.133* Having any financial assets No (ref.) - - Yes 0.100 0.249*** Having any debt No (ref.) - - Yes 0.098 -0.24*** Journal of Economics and Development Vol. 18, No.2, August 201656 isfied with their financial circumstance when having other land outside where they regularly lived. In particular, older women having addi- tional land had a 13.3 percent higher probabili- ty of financial satisfaction than those having no additional land. Receiving financial support from children made a 12.6 percent (for males) and a 12.3 per- cent (for females) higher probability of finan- cial satisfaction than those having not received anything from their children. Having financial assets made women have a 24.9 percent probability of financial satis- faction than those having no financial assets. In contrast, having debt had a negative impact on the financial satisfaction of older women as they had a 24.1 percent lower probability of fi- nancial satisfaction than those having no debts. These results are similar to those in Hira and Mugneda (1998) and Hansen et al. (2008). 5. Concluding remarks and policy recom- mendations The major findings above lead to timely pol- icy recommendations to improve financial sat- isfaction among older people in Vietnam. The policy recommendations derived from our find- ings are as follows: First of all, there is a need to improve the financial situation of older females. Vietnam- ese women are less satisfied with their financial situation when they become older. This prob- lem derives from gender inequality, women are always disadvantaged in accessing sources, op- portunities, and income discrimination. There- fore, there is definitely a difference between the financial satisfaction of males and females, in which females suffer a more adverse situation. For this trend, the nationwide social protection system needs to pay more attention to the finan- cial problems of older women. To be more spe- cific, we should first conduct a gender-equality campaign to ease the disadvantage of women in all aspects, and then focus on generating source opportunities for women such as work, loans, and fiscal aids. Besides, policies for financial problems among older people in Vietnam need to put females at a higher priority. Second, differences in financial satisfaction between urban and rural areas also suggest some important changes in policies. Urban living has a considerable impact on the abili- ty to reach financial satisfaction for both men and women. Older persons who live in urban areas are more likely to feel satisfied with their financial condition than those who live in rural areas. As a result, policies for development in rural areas have to be conducted not only for the development of living conditions and pro- duction, but also for the financial problems of older people. Older persons in rural areas need more help for their financial condition. In addi- tion, people who live in urban areas have good opportunities to take care of their parents phys- ically and mentally, but this is very difficult in rural areas where children always live far from their family. Also, as from the findings above, financial support from children to their parents is really important for the financial satisfaction of older people as a result of marginal effects calculation. That is the reason why the policies regarding creating work in rural areas have to be improved and reinforced as an indirect way to change the financial well-being of rural peo- ple, including the elderly. In addition, from the regression results, working in late life is not a solution to improv- Journal of Economics and Development Vol. 18, No.2, August 201657 ing the degree of financial satisfaction among Vietnamese elders, as in this paper’s findings. Meanwhile, the effects of education and train- ing are positive determinants for financial sat- isfaction improvement. Therefore, instead of finding ways to create more jobs for older peo- ple, the policies have to focus on education and training during their younger period. Especial- ly, the high school and above level of educa- tion need to attract more attention because this paper has provided evidence that older people who did not complete high school level have less chance to feel satisfied with their financial condition in late life. For this reason, policies need to provide the utmost support for people to reach high school level and higher by pro- viding scholarships for enrolling in high school and by providing financial incentives for fami- lies having high school students. Importantly, as in the above findings, debt and financial assets play important roles in the financial satisfaction of female elders. For this reason, micro-finance systems need to be rein- forced in Vietnam, which will help to improve the financial satisfaction of women by gener- ating financial assets and decreasing the bur- den of debt. In addition, policies for supporting people to pay off their debt and favorable loans with lower rates of interest have to be adopted to help older people in general as well as older women in particular. All things considered, to improve the finan- cial satisfaction of older people in Vietnam, we have to focus on issues related to gender inequality, policies for developing rural areas, creating jobs for the younger rather than for the elder, high school support and applying finan- cial solutions from other countries. Although the authors tried to include as many possible explanatory variables to distin- guish the underlying factors of financial sat- isfaction of older men and women, the paper could not avoid some limitations. First, the paper searched for determinants on their own rather than for interactions between variables, and thus it could not explain clearly some find- ings, such as why working did not affect finan- cial satisfaction and owning a house made old- er women feel less satisfied with their financial situation. These anomalies should be explored further with other socio-economic status (SES) variables. Second, without a panel or longitu- dinal information on older men and women, it was difficult to expose some key important variables (such as health status) as well as con- trol time-variant factors in order to have more persuasive explanations. These issues will be taken into account when available data allows. Acknowledgements: This research is funded by the Vietnam National Foundation for Science and Technology Development (NAFOSTED) under grant number II6.2-2013.01. 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