Linking Salary Advance to Low-and Moderate-Income Salaried Workers: An Investigation of School Educators in Tanzania

Abstract

The study investigated the relationship between salary advances and low—to moderate-income salaried workers, focusing on school educators in Tanzania. It explored why educators take salary advances before payday, assessed the benefits and costs of this practice, and examined how salary advance-taking relates to low-to-moderate-income earners. The study employed a quantitative approach with a cross-sectional design to collect data from 68 educators who returned self-report questionnaires from Dodoma City. The study used cluster and simple random sampling methods to select schools and educators. The collected data underwent thorough coding and entry into the Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 25 for statistical analysis. Descriptive statistics, including frequencies and percentiles, one-sample t-tests and paired sample t-tests, were employed to explore the correlation between low-moderate income and salary advance uptake. Findings indicate that while salary advances can promptly address urgent financial needs and expenses, there are costs of falling into a cycle of debt and financial instability. Recommendations include employers being prepared for emergencies requiring salary advances and establishing clear guidelines for granting such advances to mitigate financial costs for educators.