TITLE:
Low-Income Earners of Nueva Ecija: Their Budgeting and Decision-Making before and during the Covid-19 Pandemic
AUTHORS:
Marilou P. Pascual
KEYWORDS:
Budgeting, Decision-Making, Low-Income Earners, Pandemic, Wages
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Social Sciences,
Vol.10 No.13,
December
20,
2022
ABSTRACT: This research described the budgeting and decision-making before and
during the COVID-19 pandemic of purposively selected low-income earners in
Nueva Ecija, Philippines. Through this study, the researcher would be able to
compare and evaluate the financial strategy and plans of the respondents. The
researcher used the descriptive research design through a survey questionnaire
administered to 60 respondents and found out that they earn between P150 to
P420 ($2.58 to $7.22) per day. They had changed their budgeting before and
during the pandemic, and additional expenses were included during the pandemic,
such as the budget for internet load. Daily finances and prices of goods and
services were their main factors in deciding when and how much to spend. The
respondents are coping with the expenses before and during a pandemic, however,
before the pandemic, they still can allocate money for savings, but during the
pandemic, there’s no money left for savings.