Structural Gaps in Financial Knowledge, Attitude, Practice, and Inclusion among Rural Youth: Evidence from La Maná Canton, Ecuador

Abstract

Financial inclusion and literacy are key dimensions of territorial economic development, particularly in rural contexts with structural access constraints. The current investigation assessed the scale of disparities in financial knowledge, attitude, practice, and formal financial inclusion of rural youth in La Maná canton, Cotopaxi, Ecuador, and whether these disparities constitute differences between territories or are a common structural feature. It was a cross-sectional quantitative descriptive comparison with 100 respondents from 5 rural communities. Dimensions were operationalized through normalized composite indices (0–1) with 95% confidence intervals, percentage gaps, and tests for territorial independence (Pearson's χ²). The results indicate high attitude (78%), intermediate knowledge (47%), moderate to low practice (44%), and limited financial inclusion (30%) and considerable gaps between attitude and practice (34 pp) and attitude and inclusion (48 pp; p < .001). No notable differences were observed with respect to territory. Findings imply that the rural youth financial gap cannot be reduced to cognitive deficits, but rather it lies at the balance between favorable dispositions and institutional constraints; therefore, the policies geared towards this group require the integration of financial education components with enablers and formal infrastructure.