Economic Security and Job Satisfaction among Government School Teachers in India: A Maslowian Perspective

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, Economic Security, Job Satisfaction, Government School Teachers, Income Sufficiency, Savings, Retirement Benefits, Teacher Motivation, Financial Well-being.

Job satisfaction among government school teachers is influenced not only by professional conditions but also by the extent to which employment enables individuals to meet their economic and psychological needs. This study examines the relationship between economic security and job satisfaction among government school teachers in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, using Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs as the principal theoretical framework. The study conceptualizes salary adequacy and income sufficiency as mechanisms for meeting basic physiological needs, while economic security, savings, employment stability and retirement benefits primarily address safety and security needs. Primary data were collected through a structured questionnaire from 71 government school teachers. The study employed descriptive statistics, categorical analysis and thematic analysis of open-ended responses. An ordinal logistic regression framework is proposed to examine the relationship between financial-security variables and job satisfaction. The findings indicate that 81.7% of respondents perceived government employment as economically secure, while 60.6% considered their salary proportional to their workload and 59.2% considered their income sufficient for a decent standard of living. However, only 46.5% reported regular savings. More than half of the respondents rated their standard of living as good. Qualitative responses highlighted inflation, rising household expenditure, salary revision, pension and retirement security, and employment stability as important concerns. These findings suggest that government employment successfully provides an important foundation of economic and safety needs, but rising living costs and uncertainty about future financial security may prevent complete satisfaction of these needs. The study extends the application of Maslow's framework to the employment and financial context of government school teachers and argues that job satisfaction should be understood as a multidimensional outcome emerging from the progressive satisfaction of economic, security, social, esteem and higher-order needs. The study also identifies the need for future research to incorporate belongingness, professional recognition and self-actualization into the empirical measurement of teacher job satisfaction.