Financial Well-Being Of Malay Single Mothers In Terengganu Using The Finwell-Sm Instrument

Abstract

The objective of the study is to determine more specifically the financial well-being of Malay single mothers in Terengganu. A total of 612 single mothers who have been divorced or their husbands have died were selected in this study. The research instrument was used as a research tool for data collection. The Financial Well-Being Self-Assessment Instrument (FinWell-SM) has been adapted and modified from the Financial Well-Being Scale (MFWBS) as well as previous studies according to the culture of the people in Malaysia. This instrument contains 20 items with 5 measurement scales, i.e. scale 1 represents the choice of strongly disagree (lowest score) and scale 5 represents the choice of strongly agree (highest score). This study has used quantitative methods. The findings of the study were analyzed using the descriptive analysis method of IBM SPSS statistical software. The results of the descriptive analysis found that single mothers in Terengganu have a low level of financial well-being, that is, single mothers have financial problems and they are very worried about those problems. The level of education, employment, monthly income, and household dependents greatly effect the financial well-being of single mothers. Financial challenges also cause the financial level of single mothers to be at a low level. The main effect of the study calls for single mothers to have more skills and knowledge in financial management. In addition, single mothers should be given appropriate assistance from the parties involved so that they do not fall out of the flow of development and can get out of poverty. This study proves that the Single Mother Financial Well-being Self-Assessment Instrument (FinWell-SM) was successfully built and can measure the financial well-being of Malay single mothers in Terengganu.