Retirement savings knowledge and attitude amongst informal workers in Uganda. A case study of Kamwokya market vendors.

Abstract

Retirement is a stage of life where involvement in certain social activities and desirable conducts become less or narrow. Retirement life without savings requires continuous employment or working and the life style remains the same with that of the young aged although the individual reaches retirement age. Lack of proper retirement planning preparation will generally bring some disappointment during retirement. Thus, saving for retirement is extremely important. The main aim of the study is to examine the extent to which knowledge, attitude and other factors contribute to the low retirement savings in Uganda’s informal sector. This quantitative cross-sectional study involved distribution of 171 sets of questionnaires to respondents who were self-employed and informal sector workers in Kamwokya market. Univariate analysis, Pearson correlation and linear regression were performed on the variables in the study using STATA. The results of the study revealed significant relationships between saving for retirement and marital status, knowledge on whether one will have enough for retirement and also knowledge of the presence of an authority that protects the interests of members and beneficiaries of retirement benefit schemes. There were no relationships between the other unmentioned variables/factors and saving for retirement. The researcher therefore concluded that one’s knowledge on saving for retirement was most likely to influence their ability and willingness to save for retirement. The demographic factors hardly have an effect on saving for retirement, whereas ones attitude totally has no effect on their ability to save for retirement. There is therefore a need for sensitization and education of masses on various aspects within the retirement benefits sector, and this knowledge will instil some confidence within Ugandans so that they can save for their retirement in the available schemes and financial institutions. On top of incentives for this young sector, the government should look into the Retirement Benefits sector Appeals Tribunal and the Liberalisation Bill, which will bring about transparency and competition in the sector respectively.