Determinants of savings account uptake among students at Makerere University: a case study of School of Statistics and Planning
Abstract
Saving is the most common way for people to manage their wealth. saving behavior can bring a
lot of benefits to individuals and families, help people protect themselves against risks so they
don't get overwhelmed and also having saving is more likely to help people achieve a better life
whether now or in the future.
The objective of the study was to find out the determinants of saving account uptake among
students of Makerere University School of Statistics and Planning.
Descriptive cross-sectional research design was used. The sample size was 150 respondents and
simple random sampling techniques was applied in selecting the respondents who were included
in the sample. The researcher used questionnaires to collect data and data was analysed using Stata
version 14 at univariate, bivariate and multivariate levels.
Results from the study showed that type of sponsorship had a significant effect on the student’s
uptake of saving account with private ownership having a p-value of (p=0.025) and high school
level(p=0.005) at a 95% confidence interval of [0.714, 1.033]. The odds of having a saving account
was 0.051 times lower among students who private sponsored and 0.442 times lower among
students who sponsored by master card/loan scheme compared to those who are government
meaning students on master card and loan scheme are more likely to have saving account.
Results from the study also showed that parent of student level of education had a significant effect
on the student’s uptake of saving account with secondary level having a p-value of (p=0.016) and
high university/tertiary level (p=0.004) at a 95% confidence interval of [0.318, 0.422]. The odds
of having a saving account was 1.103 times higher among students whose parents completed
secondary level and 1.214 times higher among students whose parents completed
university/tertiary level meaning higher education level influences saving account uptake.
Results from the study also showed that parent of student level of income had a significant effect
on the student’s uptake of saving account with 1,000,001-3,000,000 shillings having a p-value of
(p=0.016) and above 3,000,000 shillings (p=0.004) at a 95% confidence interval of [1.001, 1.010].
The odds of having a saving account was 1.103 times higher among students whose parents earn
1,000,001-3,000,000 shillings and l 1.214 times higher among students whose parents earn above
3,000,000 shillings meaning higher income level influences saving account uptake.
The study concluded that type of sponsorship, parent education level and parent level of income
are the major determinants of saving account uptake among university students and other factors
xiv
like gender, age groups, student level of income partially influences saving account uptake among
university students.
The study recommended that students should adopt planning for their expenditure against their
income to have enough income to save and this is because the results indicated that student level
of income does not influence saving account uptake among students