Who's got the phone? The gendered use of telephones at the bottom of the pyramid Ayesha Zainudeen, Tahani Iqbal, Rohan Samarajiva & Dimuthu Ratnadiwakara ICA Communication & Technology Section, Montreal 26 May 2008 `

Research questions Is there a gender divide in access to phones at the BOP? Do women and men really differ in their use of the phone at the BOP? Overview: background & methodology –Divide in BOP? –Differences in BOP? –[The case of Pakistan –Implications] if possible

*excluding FANA/FATA – Tribal Areas; **excluding N&E Provinces ‘Bottom of the pyramid’ (BOP) defined Many definitions of poverty, but this study uses SEC D and E; b etween ages SEC defined by education and occupation of chief wage earner, but it is closely correlated with income levels PakistanIndiaSri LankaPhilippinesThailand Population (million)1651, Target population of study (million) 77*2604**4115 SEC D & E SEC A, B & C

Quantitative sample BOP segment is representative of the BOP population –Diary respondents also representative of BOP Small (non-representative sample) taken of SEC groups A, B & C for comparison purposes SAMPLE South AsiaSouth East AsiaTOTAL PakistanIndiaSri LankaPhilippinesThailand TOP (SEC A, B & C) ,420 BOP (SEC D & E) 1,0813, , ,269 Total 1,8124,0001,0771, ,689 Error margin at 95 percent CI 2.7%1.5%3.0% 7.0%

Divide in telecom BOP?

Why worry about gender and telephone access? Many benefits of access to telecom; information, empowerment, etc… Lots of focus on creating equality in access – research, projects, etc.

Is there a gender divide at the BOP?

Primary access modes 2.7 : : 1 1 : : : : : 1

‘Male dominated’ access modes?

Who decided to get female mobile owners connected? South Asian males also tended to dominate decisions with regards to expenditure on food, electricity and the household fixed phone

Internet use & awareness Large gender divide in Internet use, even in the Philippines and Thailand Divide in awareness of the internet was highest in India PakistanIndiaSri LankaPhilippinesThailand Ratio (M/F)

Is there a gender divide at the BOP? In Pakistan, India and to a limited extent Sri Lanka, YES –Males more likely to use mobiles and public phones; men even dominate the decision to buy a phone –Females more likely to use other peoples’ phones if not household fixed phones In the Philippines or Thailand, NO

Differences in BOP?

A look at the literature… Several studies suggest that compared to men, women use telephones: –more frequently; –for longer; –and primarily for ‘relationship maintenance’ Moyal 1992; Fischer 1992; Rakow 1992; Claisse and Rowe 1993; Ling 1998; Smoreda and Licoppe 2000; etc,

Men receive and make as many calls as women (except for Pakistan) Source: Diary

Men at the BOP talk as long as women (except for Pakistan) Source: Diary

BOP use the phone for same purposes as women (except for Pakistan) Although studies in Western Africa have found that women make and receive more social calls than men (Huyer, S., Hafkin, N., Ertl, H., and Dryburgh, H., 2006) Source: Diary

The strange case of Pakistan

Pakistan Severe divide in mobile access/ownership –Decisions taken by men Little use of public facilities by women, more often use friends, neighbors, family’s phones, if at all Few calls as a result, but calls are longer in duration More relationship-maintenance, etc.

Implications Does the gender divide close as penetration grows? –Need time-series data and further study –If at all, not in the short-term If countries want to see the divide close, policies which promote greater mobile access will benefit respective countries

Many plan to get connected by mid-2008; mostly to mobiles  will the gap narrow? 2008 data will show

Implications Gender divide on mobile has serious implications for up-take of new SMS- based services by women Pakistani universal service policies may be less imbalanced –If funds are put into promoting mobile access, not public access only –With regard to funds put into public access (telecenters), make sure that the public-access points are explicitly designed to be hospitable to women

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