Financial Stress, Income-Generating Activities and Academic Commitment among Undergraduates in South-West Nigeria (Published)
Persistent inflation, rising tuition and declining household purchasing power have intensified the financial burden on Nigerian university students, many of whom now combine study with informal and digital income-generating activities, popularly called side hustles.This study assessed the level of financial stress among undergraduates, identified the income-generating activities they adopt, described the time invested and weekly earnings, and examined whether time commitment and gender were associated with lecture attendance and type of activity, respectively.A descriptive cross-sectional survey was conducted among 338 undergraduates selected by multistage sampling from two public universities in South-West Nigeria. Data were collected with a researcher-developed questionnaire (Cronbach’s α = .89) and analysed with descriptive statistics and chi-square tests at the .05 level of significance.Overall, 39.9% of respondents reported high financial stress, 37.6% moderate and 22.5% low. About one in four students (27.2%, n = 92) engaged in income-generating activities, most commonly sports betting (18.5%), petty trading (16.3%), forex trading (16.3%) and cryptocurrency trading (14.1%); 6.5% reported online fraud. Reported weekly earnings ranged from ₦5,000 to ₦200,000. Among students who engaged in these activities, 76.1% missed lectures at least sometimes. Daily time commitment was significantly associated with lecture absenteeism, χ²(3, N = 92) = 18.65, p < .001, Cramér’s V = .45, and gender was strongly associated with the type of activity, χ²(1, N = 92) = 50.10, p < .001, φ = .74.Financial stress is widespread among undergraduates, and time-intensive digital and speculative ventures appear to compete directly with class attendance. Expanded student loans, structured work-study schemes, financial-literacy and gambling-harm education, and guidance-and-counselling support are recommended.
Keywords: Undergraduates, academic commitment, digital economy, financial stress, side hustle, sports betting