Attitudes towards uptake of micro insurance in the informal sector: case study of boda-boda riders
Abstract
This study focused on determining the attitudes towards micro insurance in the informal sector,
specifically to the boda-boda riders. Source of information used was primary data which involved
sending out questionnaires that were both physical and online to people in the informal sector,
specifically the boda-boda riders. Data obtained from the questionnaires was analyzed in STATA
by performing a univariate analysis, bivariate analysis and binomial multivariate analysis to it.
From the univariate analysis, it was revealed that majority of the boda-boda riders (60.4%) use
micro insurance. Majority of the boda-boda riders (95.1%) were males and slightly more than half
of the respondents (50.5%) ranged between 18 and 30 years old. Furthermore, slightly less than
half of the boda-boda riders (48.5%) had reached the tertiary level of education. (40.6%) of the
boda-boda riders had a riding experience of between 1 to 3 years. 54.5% of the boda-boda riders
knew about micro insurance, 50.5% of the boda-boda riders thought that it was important to take
up micro insurance and 18.8% had ever taken up micro insurance products before.
The results from the bivariate analysis revealed that age, education level, monthly income from
boda-boda riding, and the consideration of taking up insurance had a significant effect towards the
uptake of micro insurance because they had p values that were less than 0.1.
Results from the multivariate analysis showed that riders between the ages of 31 and 45 were 88%
less likely to take up micro insurance compared to those between 18 and 30 years (p<0.05). Those
who thought it was important to take up micro insurance were 6 times more likely to take up micro
insurance compared to those who did not think it was (p<0.05). The boda-boda riders who earned
above 500,000 Uganda shillings were 7 times more likely to use micro insurance as compared to
those who earned between 100,000 and 300,000 Uganda shillings (p<0.05) and the boda-boda
riders who earned above 500,000 Uganda shillings were 7 times more likely to use micro insurance
as compared to those who earned between 100,000 and 300,000 Uganda shillings (p<0.05).
In conclusion, despite the fact that many of the respondents agreed that it is important to take up
micro insurance, its uptake amidst the people in the informal sector is still quite low. Therefore,
insurance companies should develop new strategies to attract more people to buy micro insurance
products.