Factors affecting the willingness of youth to join cooperatives in Calamba City, Laguna, 2023
Date
6-2024
Degree
Bachelor of Science in Agricultural Economics
College
College of Economics and Management (CEM)
Adviser/Committee Chair
Christian Paul L. Fang
Committee Member
Geny F. Lapina, Maria Angeles O. Catelo
Abstract
Cooperatives are people-centered enterprises that contribute to social development and economic growth of their members and the community. Youth, on the other hand, are valuable human resources for development and important catalysts of technological advances, social change, and economic growth. In this study, the willingness of youth to join cooperatives in Calamba City, Laguna was assessed. Primary data were obtained from 96 youth individuals, composed of 48 members and 48 non-members of an organization, through a pre-tested survey interview. Cronbach’s alpha was used to test the reliability of the questionnaires. The associations between socio-economic characteristics, awareness, knowledge, and perception with the willingness to join cooperatives were determined using Fisher’s exact test. This analytical tool was also utilized to determine if there was a significant association between the knowledge levels of youth-respondents familiar with cooperatives and their source of information about cooperatives. The study found that most of youth-respondents had low level of awareness when it comes to the existence and benefits of cooperatives. The majority also had low level of knowledge about the nature, purpose, principles, and types of cooperatives. Nevertheless, a large portion of them had positive perception of cooperatives. The study also revealed that 59 percent of the respondents were not willing to join cooperatives. Some of the reasons stated by them include the lack of time, interest, and knowledge. On the other hand, the remaining 41 percent were willing to join cooperatives to gain benefits, learn about efficient investment and savings mechanisms as well as entrepreneurship, help other people, and enhance their skills, among others. In addition, the multi-purpose cooperative was the most preferred type among the youth-respondents who were willing to join cooperatives. In the analysis of the association between socio-economic factors and the willingness to join cooperatives, only membership wassignificant at a 1 percent probability level. Meanwhile, awareness, knowledge, and perception had significant associations with willingness to join cooperatives. On the other hand, social media and school as sources of information about cooperatives were significant at a 10 percent probability level. It was concluded that youth-respondents had low levels of awareness and knowledge about cooperatives, but they perceived them in a positive way. The majority of them were not willing to join cooperatives, and most of those who were willing were members of an organization. They were willing to join primarily to gain the benefits of being a cooperative member and to learn. The main barrier, however, to their willingness to join was the lack of time. Based on the results of the study, the following recommendations were formulated: expansion of social media reach, provision of cooperative education, collaboration with youth organizations, establishment of youth cooperatives, and consideration of a broader range of perspectives in future studies.
Language
English
LC Subject
Cooperative Societies
Location
UPLB College of Economics and Management (CEM)
Call Number
LG 993.5 2024 A14 A98
Recommended Citation
Autor, Vanessa T., "Factors affecting the willingness of youth to join cooperatives in Calamba City, Laguna, 2023" (2024). Undergraduate Theses. 11414.
https://www.ukdr.uplb.edu.ph/etd-undergrad/11414
Document Type
Thesis
Notes
Best Special Problem in Cooperative Studies
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