Despite a stable monthly salary, low-income workers still face challenges when stretching their pay from month to month. Financially constrained workers are compelled to take on informal credit through familial or personal sources, or depend on moneylenders. This further reduces their household’s ability to accumulate precautionary savings and cope with income shocks, potentially being trapped in a cycle of debt. Our study which focused on women garment workers in India showed a disproportionate impact of pending debts on women. Therefore, access to financial resources at a time of need in the form of a flexible, employer-supported, interest-free salary advance tool could have far-reaching implications for women workers’ financial security and wellbeing.

Can access to greater liquidity reduce women workers’ debts, and improve their household’s ability to cope with financial contingencies? Can such an intervention improve women’s social standing and bargaining power in the household?

Women working in select garment factories will be provided with access to liquidity through an employer salary advance intervention at a zero interest rate. The study is designed as a 6-month randomized controlled trial, where the option of salary advancement will be provided to 450 participants. They will be given access to a digital platform and will attend training sessions on how to use the platform to request a portion of their salary as an interest-free advance earlier than their regular salary cycles. This digital platform will be installed on tablets and located on the factory floor for easy access.

• Ability to afford food and healthcare
• Ability to pay utility bills, and education related expenses
• Financial strain and/or resilience
• Changes in dependence on informal sources for short-term borrowings
• Women’s bargaining power and self-efficacy 
• Women’s involvement in household expenditure decisions