Transcript The gendered use of telecom at the bottom of the pyramid

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
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Research questions
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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?
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Overview:
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Teleuse@BOP2 background & methodology
Divide in access @ BOP?
Differences in use @ BOP?
[The case of Pakistan
Implications] if possible
‘Bottom of the pyramid’ (BOP) defined
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Many definitions of poverty, but this
study uses SEC D and E; between ages
18-60
•
SEC defined by education and
occupation of chief wage earner, but it is
closely correlated with income levels
SEC A, B & C
SEC D & E
Pakistan
India
Sri Lanka
Philippines
Thailand
Population (million)
165
1,095
20
89
64
Target population of
study (million)
77*
260
4**
41
15
*excluding FANA/FATA – Tribal Areas; **excluding N&E Provinces
Quantitative sample
South Asia
South East Asia
TOTAL
SAMPLE
Pakistan
TOP
(SEC A, B & C)
BOP
(SEC D & E)
Total
Error margin at 95
percent CI
•
Sri Lanka
Philippines
Thailand
731
652
596
92
348
2,420
1,081
3,348
481
1,008
352
6,269
1,812
4,000
1,077
1,100
700
8,689
2.7%
1.5%
3.0%
3.0%
7.0%
BOP segment is representative of the BOP population
–
•
India
Diary respondents also representative of BOP
Small (non-representative sample) taken of SEC groups A, B & C for comparison purposes
Divide in telecom access @ 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
1.1 : 1
1:1
1.9 : 1
2.7 : 1
1.8 : 1
2.7 : 1
0.3 : 1
0.7 : 1
‘Male dominated’ access modes?
Who decided to get female mobile owners
connected?
100%
80%
26%
60%
40%
91%
74%
20%
9%
0%
South Asia
Male
•
South East Asia
Female
South Asian males also tended to dominate decisions with regards to
expenditure on food, electricity and the household fixed phone
Internet use & awareness
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Large gender divide in Internet use, even in the Philippines and Thailand
16%
13.6%
14%
11.9%
% at BOP
12%
10%
7.3%
8%
5.7%
6%
4%
2%
2.9%
0.8%
2.2%
0.9%
0.5%0.1%
0%
Pakistan
India
Sri Lanka
Male
•
Philippines
Thailand
Female
Divide in awareness of the internet was highest in India
Ratio (M/F)
Pakistan
0.93
India
1.48
Sri Lanka Philippines
1.07
1.00
Thailand
1.11
Is there a gender divide at the BOP?
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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 90%
3.0
77%
80%
2.5
62%
60%
2.0
50%
1.5
41%
40%
36%
30%
1.0
19%
20%
Ratio of use (male:female)
% who own a phone at BOP
70%
0.5
10%
0%
0.0
Pakistan
India
Phone ownership at BOP
Sri Lanka
Philippines
Thailand
Ratio of mobile access at BOP (male:female)
– Females more likely to use other peoples’ phones if not household fixed phones
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In the Philippines or Thailand, NO
Differences in use @ 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
85
100
79
80
27
10
15
27
26
9
14
12
15
Female
25
0
Pakistan
Source: Diary
India
Sri Lanka
16
15
5
11
5
10
Philippines
Outgoing
Incoming
48
48
Female
24
32
Male
20
Female
19
Male
25
Male
18
Female
20
46
Male
40
37
46
43
Female
60
Male
average calls per month
(except for Pakistan)
Thailand
Men at the BOP talk as long as women
Minutes per call
5.0
4.7
4.5
4.3
4.0
3.2
2.0
351
316
2.8
2.5
152
400
350
4.5
3.3
3.0
3.0
4.2
200
150
100
151
148
116
1.0
96
74
70
68
50
0
0.0
Male
Female
Pakistan
Male
Female
India
Male
Sri Lanka
Ave. number of minutes per call
Source: Diary
Female
300
250
Male
Female
Philippines
Male
Female
Thailand
Ave. number of minutes per month
Minutes per month
(except for Pakistan)
Men @ BOP use the phone for same purposes as
women
% of calls (incoming + outgoing)
(except for Pakistan)
100%
80%
6.3% 3.6%
9%
22%
30%
30%
35%
33%
43%
32%
25%
29%
60%
65%
67%
Male
Female
20%
57%
68%
75%
Male
70%
Female
70%
Female
71%
Intstrumental
Male
40%
87%
No response
71%
Relationship
Maintainance
Pakistan
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India
Sri Lanka
Philippines
Female
Male
Female
Male
0%
Thailand
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
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Severe divide in mobile access/ownership
– Decisions taken by men
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Little use of public facilities by women, more often use friends, neighbors,
family’s phones, if at all
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Few calls as a result, but calls are longer in duration
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More relationship-maintenance, etc.
Implications
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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
90%
3.0
77%
80%
2.5
62%
60%
2.0
50%
1.5
41%
40%
36%
30%
1.0
19%
20%
0.5
10%
0%
0.0
Pakistan
India
Phone ownership at BOP
Sri Lanka
Philippines
Thailand
Ratio of mobile access at BOP (male:female)
Ratio of use (male:female)
70%
% who own a phone at BOP
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Connections at BOP (millions)
150
100%
86%
125
78%
100
77%
72%
70%
62%
75
60%
50%
41%
50
80%
40%
36%
20%
19%
25
0
0%
Pakistan
India
Sri Lanka Philippines
Already own something
Current ownership at BOP (%)
Thailand
Don't own but plan to buy
Penetration at BOP by mid 2008
% of households at BOP with a telephone
Many plan to get connected by mid-2008; mostly to mobiles
 will the gap narrow? 2008 data will show
Implications
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Gender divide on mobile has serious implications for up-take of new SMSbased services by women
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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
more at www.lirneasia.net; search term “BOP”
[email protected]