Does financial inclusion improve the welfare of people living with disabilities? evidence from Indonesia using a propensity score matching approach

Abstract Background People living with disabilities have the same rights as non-disabled individuals to access financial services. However, in 2023, as many as 75.7% of people living with disabilities in Indonesia still did not own a bank account, even though account ownership is the most fundamental element of financial inclusion. This study aims to analyze the association between financial inclusion on the welfare of people living with disabilities in Indonesia. Methods This study employed cross-sectional data from the March 2023 National Socio-Economic Survey (Susenas) to analyze the association between financial inclusion on the welfare of people living with disabilities, focusing on household heads with disabilities as the unit of analysis, representing a weighted sample of 8,726,103 households. Welfare is proxied by the average household expenditure of the household head, which includes both food and non-food components such as health and education spending. The Propensity Score Matching (PSM) technique was applied using a probit-based model via Stata software. The assumptions of common support and standardized bias were verified and satisfied. Results Using three different financial inclusion index cut-off points—≥25%, ≥ 50%, and ≥ 75%—the results revealed that the Average Treatment Effect on the Treated (ATT) of financial inclusion positively and significantly associated with the welfare level of household heads with disabilities, ranging from 22.83% to 23.43%, 29.47%-29.87%, and 31.23%-33.23%, respectively. These findings indicated that higher levels of financial inclusion among household heads with disabilities were associated with higher levels of welfare attainment. Conclusion The findings suggest that financial inclusion programs play a crucial role in enhancing the welfare of people living with disabilities, as they have a positive and significant association on improving their well-being.