Redefining Self Through Financial Learning: The Transformative Experiences of Young Mothers in Remote Communities of Rural Indonesia

Abstract

This study aims to investigate how financial literacy education influences the personal transformation of young mothers in culturally constrained rural environments. Specifically, it seeks to answer the question: How do young mothers in remote communities internalize and reinterpret their identities through participation in financial literacy programs? Financial literacy has emerged as a critical component of educational and social development, particularly in efforts to empower women in marginalized communities. While many studies emphasize outcomes such as budgeting skills and income changes, there remains a significant gap in understanding the subjective, lived experiences of women undergoing financial learning in socially restrictive rural contexts.

To address this gap, this study explores how young mothers in remote areas undergo personal transformation through participation in a financial literacy program. Employing an interpretative phenomenological approach (IPA), the study reveals how participants redefined their sense of self, agency, and role within the household and community after engaging with financial education.

Data were collected through in-depth, semi-structured interviews with eight young mothers who completed a literacy program within the past year. The interviews were transcribed and analyzed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA), allowing for an in-depth exploration of participants’ meaning-making processes. This facilitated the identification of four core themes: emerging financial awareness, reconstruction of self-worth, negotiation of traditional gender roles, and development of peer support networks. These themes demonstrated that financial literacy served not only as a skill-building intervention but also as a catalyst for psychological empowerment and identity reconstruction. The findings show that the process of learning about money created space for participants to challenge existing norms and articulate new aspirations for themselves and their families.

These insights contribute to a more holistic understanding of literacy as an experiential and transformative process. The study underscores the value of phenomenological methods in uncovering the complex interplay between education, empowerment, and lived experience in marginalized contexts.