Drawing on the nationally representative Pakistan Social and Living Standards Measurement Survey (2019-2020), this paper analyzes the gender digital gap in Pakistan. Rural women fare worse than urban, which limits their prospects of boosting productivity and livelihoods in on- and off-farm income and employment. This research reveals a positive correlation between mobile phone ownership and female labor force participation – although it does not attempt to analyze specific channels through which the effect exists, suggesting much-needed further research in this area. Read more
Blog » Narrowing the Gender Digital Divide in Pakistan: Mobile Phone Ownership and Female Labor Force Participation (2023)
Narrowing the Gender Digital Divide in Pakistan: Mobile Phone Ownership and Female Labor Force Participation (2023)
Drawing on the nationally representative Pakistan Social and Living Standards Measurement Survey (2019-2020), this paper analyzes the gender digital gap in Pakistan. Rural women fare worse than urban, which limits their prospects of boosting productivity and livelihoods in on- and off-farm income and employment. This research reveals a positive correlation between mobile phone ownership and female labor force participation – although it does not attempt to analyze specific channels through which the effect exists, suggesting much-needed further research in this area. Read more