Reaching sustainable financial health: Gender differences in risk-taking patterns of financially excluded people

Providing sufficient financial accessibility to low-income individuals is considered a way to decrease income inequality and could be a key factor in sustainable economic growth. To make the financial accessibility policy more effective, analyses of individuals' understanding of financial risk within low-income groups need to be conducted. The current authors investigated individuals' attitudes towards loan financial risk in terms of gender difference. Using South Korean survey data, we examined the relationship between gender and attitude towards loan financial risk with a regression analysis. We found that within a low-income group, males were more willing to pay higher interest rates than females. In addition, males' willingness to pay high interest rates became stronger when their current financial costs were high. The results indicate that males are less careful with the risks that high interest rates can bring. Thus, the results imply that interventions, such as more substantial financial education, are required for males to make financial accessibility polices more effective.