Factors Affecting Women’s Ability to Purchase Mobile Phones in Myanmar[1]
Abstract
A 2015 survey, representative of those aged 15-65 in Myanmar, showed that women were 29 percent less likely to own a mobile phone than men. The low ownership appears to not impact using a phone for voice calls (making or receiving) because women are willing to borrow someone else’s phone, especially a phone belonging to another household member. But ownership impacts Internet use - each unit increase in phone ownership increases the likelihood of using the Internet by about 8 percent. Therefore, getting aphone in the hands of women is a key first step in increasing the number of women who get online in Myanmar. The paper examines how decisions regarding phone purchase and ownership are made and the factors affecting such decisions as applicable to women as opposed to men. The paper provides insights to policymakers who wish to ensure benefits of mobile communication to both genders – by explaining the reasons for the disparity and by recommending concrete solutions based on evidence.
Context, motivation & previous work
ICTs in Myanmar: After decades of isolation from most of the world (except for some of its nearest neighbors), Myanmar has slowly but surely opened its doors to investment and economic/social reform in the past five years. Liberalization of the sector, coupled with foreign investment has made Myanmar one of the fastest growing telecom markets. After being one of the least connected countries in the world in 2011 (International Telecommunications Union, 2011),it now has a mobile penetration rate of 54 percent (World Bank, 2014)and is one of the fastest growing markets in the world. This supply side data presents a rosy picture, but it is not possible see if the spread of mobile phones has been equitable across demographic groups. In contrast, household surveys have enabled researchers to examine ICT use based on a host of other social, cultural and economic factors in a manner that is not visible from the supply side. These surveys show that traditionally, disadvantaged groups such as the poor, rural, women and the elderly are among the last to get connected in many countries across the world.
Gender disparities in mobile access and use across the world:The focus of this paper is about differences between men and women, and there is plenty of evidence from demand-side research to support the existence of significant gender gap in all forms of ICT access and use, globally.
GSMA, Cherie Blair Foundation, and Vital Wave Consulting (2012) report that women in low-and middle- income countries are 21 percent less likely to own a phone than men. This gender gap, however, varies regionally. Women in South Asia are 38 percent less likely than men to own a phone while the corresponding figure in East Asia and the Pacific is three percent (GSMA, 2015).
The World Wide Web Foundation (2015) states that women are half as likely to be connected to the Internet than men of the same age group, similar education levels and household income. This does not seem to be the case for mobile phone ownership, however. Gillwald, Milek, & Stork (2010), using household and individual access and usage survey conducted across 17 African countries, find that women with similar income, education and employment status are as likely as men to own mobile phones; the gap exists due to women generally having less access to employment, education and other factors that increase the likelihood of ownership.
Reasons for the ICT gender gap, from the literature:Nearly half a billion women in low and middle-income countries access mobile phones through borrowing while more than a quarter billion people are yet to make use of a mobile phone at all. The literature explains such gaps (i.e. where women use and own less ICT devices and services) in multiple ways. The variations in the gender gap generally correspond with overall levels of economic development and a woman’s role and participation in society, including levels of education and workforce participation. (GSMA, Cherie Blair Foundation, and Vital Wave Consulting, 2012)
The top barriers to mobile phone ownership amongst female non-owners were cost, network quality & coverage, security & harassment, technical literacy & confidence and operator/agent trust. (GSMA, 2015) This report that aggregates data from 11 countries, states that fewer women than men reported contributing to the household income and even when they do earn or receive an income, they do not always control how that income is spent, including on mobile-related expenses.
The role that women play in purchasing decisions depends on the country in question. Reid (1988) writes of historically higher female autonomy in South East Asia in comparison to South Asia. Low female autonomy in South Asia has been attributed to the inherent patriarchal and gender-stratified governance structures(Jejeebhoy & Sathar, 2004), as well as control of material resources and supported by elements of the kinship, political, and religious systems (Cain, Khanam, & Nahar, 1979). The Global Gender Gap Index (World Economic Forum, 2015) reports gender gaps in 145 countries. Southeast Asia, on average, fares better than South Asia; Philippines ranks amongst the top 10 countries, while Pakistan ranks one before the last. The difference between South Asia and Southeast Asia in scores in the economic participation and opportunity sub-index is stark. This seems to correspond with the phone useage differences between men and women. For example, there were 2.7 males for every female who used their own mobile as the most frequently used phone amongst the poorest (i.e. Sociaeconomic Classification [SEC][2]D and E) in India and Pakistan. The divide was and hardly present at all in the Philippines and Thailand, with ratios of 1:1 and 1.1:1 respectively. (Zainudeen, Sivapragasam, de Silva, Iqbal, & Ratnadiwakara, 2007) However, in countries like Indonesia, even when women use their own money or the household budget to pay for their handset and credit recharge, they often require permission to spend the money, and usually more so than men. (GSMA, 2015)
Women in Myanmar society: If women’s empowerment and position in the family, society, culture are key drivers of ICT ownership as literature shows (as cited above), it is important to understand how these factors play out in Myanmar. Most of the literature highlights the significantly empowered position women have in Myanmar society throughout most of Myanmar’s history. Much older evidence points to how a female in Myanmar does not “change her name when she marries, nor wear any signs of marriages such a ring.….marriage does not confer upon her husband any power over his wife’s property” (Hall, 1898, as cited in Ikeya 2005/2006). Parents welcomed a baby girl as much as a baby boy, though most desired at least one son who would bring them merit by becoming a novice monk as is customary for a short time (Sein, 1958). It is stated “from the time immemorial, the women of Burma have suffered little or no discrimination: laws and customs of the land allowed women to find their own place in society according to their ability and wishes” (Sein, 1972). In fact, Sein (1972) writes how “we were amazed to discover that the British officials were not very keen about women getting into Legislature” whileLwyn (1994) states the Christian missionaries and colonial officials alike “wrote in amazement of Burmese women’s perceived equality with men and their relative freedom and independence”.
Buddhism in Myanmar placed primacy on men (for example, the sangha order of male priests being superior to female nuns) but “economic power enabled women to undertake merit-making activities such as making donations to pagodas” (Kawanami,2013).
More recent literature however challenges these concepts by claiming that the narratives of Burmese women’s empowerment were impositions of European concepts, and had to do with colonial ideology and politics (for a detailed discussion on this see Ikeya, 2005/2006). Critics point out that Burmese women were only empowered in comparison to other colonized women (specifically the Indian woman), and they claim that this contrast itself was a useful construct that enabled the colonizers to justify the act of colonizing. Yet none of them actually strongly dispute the relative status of empowerment enjoyed by Burmese women (in contrast to other Asian women). Within Burma, however, practices favorable to women have existed side by side with sexist and even misogynistic ideas and customs concerning women, according to Ikeya (2005/06)
Gender disparities in mobile use and ownership in Myanmar:According to the above, a gender gap in Myanmar should be minimal, given that there is tradition of strong financial and social participation by women in the community, politics, and home. Yet, the data confirms this. Data from the only nationally representative household and individual ICT use survey in Myanmar conducted in February-May 2015 by LIRNEasia shows that men are more frequent users of phone calls and text messages than women. Interestingly, women who did not own their own phones were also able make and receive calls and text message. Indeed, because women non-owners were more willing to borrow someone’s (usually another household member’s)phone, the ended up being more frequent users of calls/text messages than male non-owners (possibly reflecting men’s unwillingness to borrow, or inability to do so since many worked outside the home).
The Internet, irrespective of how it was defined to include Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), messaging apps, social media apps, browser based Internet use on the phone, etc., was used by more men than women. Combined with the fact that that women aged 15-65are 29 percent less likely to own a mobile phone compared to men, this meant that women in Myanmar were at a distinct disadvantage when it came to their likelihood of getting online. Abinary regression run on the same data set shows that ownership of a phone was the variable that increased the likelihood of using the Internet the most (Galpaya, 2016)
As such, women’s ownership of a mobile, for themselves, appears to be a key intervention that would get them online.
The purpose of this paper is to present the role women play in the purchase of phones, and to attempt to identify if and how gender plays a role in ownership of a (personal) phone.
Methodology
The data collection for this research was qualitative and involved 91 respondents in one urban (Yangon) and one rural (Pantanaw) location in Myanmar.
The methodology involvedfocus group discussions (FGDs), with the participation of 6-7 participants in each FGD and in-depth interviews (IDIs), where the researchers visited the respondent’s primary dwelling and conducted an IDI on site.Each protocol lasted approximately 2 hours.
The fieldwork was conducted in Myanmar language in July 2015 through a contract firm (Myanmar Survey Research) thatrecruited respondents, provided Myanmar language moderators, simultaneous interpretation (Myanmar language to English), and transcribed (in English) the protocol. Authors participated in the protocolsand/or synthesis meetings; they further synthesized the findings using software (nVivo) onthe original transcripts. The semi-structure interview questionnaires were designed by authors who also designed the sample and screening criteria.
Included among the sample were female as well as male, urban as well as rural, working as well as non-working respondents, ranging from ages 18 up to 65 and SEC groups B-E, with the biggest representation being from SEC D and E. The sample tables (Table 1, Table 2) give further details of respondents.
Informed consent of participation was obtained from all research subjects.
Table 1: Sample (i.e. respondent details) for focus group discussions
Table 2: Respondent details (i.e. sample) for home visit/in-depth interviews
Protocol / Location / Gender / Occupation / SEC / Age group / Mobile ownership / Internet and app use (via any device)IDI 1 / Urban / Female / Working / B-C / 18-29 / Owner / Yes/No
IDI 2 / D-E / Non-owner / No
IDI 3 / B-C / 30-45 / Owner / Yes/No
IDI 4 / D-E / Non-owner / No
IDI 5 / C-D / 46-65 / Owner / Yes/No
IDI 6 / Non-working / B-C / 18-29 / Owner / Yes/No
IDI 7 / D-E / Non-owner / No
IDI 8 / B-C / 30-45 / Owner / Yes/No
IDI 9 / D-E / Non-owner / No
IDI 10 / DE / 46-65 / Non-owner / No
IDI 11 / Rural / Working / C-D / 18-29 / Owner / Yes/No
IDI 12 / D-E / Non-owner / No
IDI 13 / C-D / 30-45 / Owner / Yes/No
IDI 14 / D-E / Non-owner / No
IDI 15 / C-D / 46-65 / Owner / Yes/No
IDI 16 / Non-working / C-D / 18-29 / Owner / Yes/No
IDI 17 / D-E / Non-owner / No
IDI 18 / C-D / 30-45 / Owner / Yes/No
IDI 19 / D-E / Non-owner / No
IDI 20 / D-E / 46-65 / Non-owner / No
IDI 21 / Urban / Male / Working / B-C / 18-29 / Owner / Yes
IDI 22 / Non-working / B-C / 30-45 / Owner / No
IDI 23 / Working / D-E / 18-30 / Non-owner / No
IDI 24 / Rural / Working / C-D / 18-30 / Owner / Yes
IDI 25 / Non-working / C-D / 30-45 / Owner / No
2.3 Limitations
The key limitation of the qualitative data is the inability to generalize findings, due to the non-random sampling method used. Respondents were purposively selected to fit set criteria (e.g. mobile owning female, aged 18-25 who works and also uses Internet services), etc. The sample was designed to capture as much diversity as possible (in genders, age groups, SEC categories, usage habits, etc.), while ensuring there were enough sample points to identify patterns. For example, given the resources, we were not able to include equal numbers of males and females, or equal allocations of the three age groups (18-25, 26-45, 46-65); best efforts were made to balance the sample given the research questions.
Results/synthesis
Women have power in family finances
Our respondents confirm that notion that women are often the Chief Financial Officers of their families. In many instances, the income of all earners (be it the husband, children, brother) is given to the wife of the household. It isthen her responsibility to allocate the funds for the family’s needs both collective and individuals. In some instances, earners kept a part of their income for their “personal” needs, and contributed the rest to the family finance pool.
“He gives me the salary when he is paid, all of it. But when he needs some he requests from me. When he goes to work he needs to have meal but there was no one he knows so I have to make sure that he has money.”
- Female non-owner, 36, SEC D, Yangon
“I usually hand 70 percent of all my wages to my wife; I keep 30percent of the wages to pay forbike repairs in case of breakdown.”
- Male, 29 years, bike-taxi, head of household, non-owning user of phones, Pantanaw
“My mom controls all the money my father sent back home. It’s around 400,000-500,000 kyat. As for me, I get pocketmoney from my mother.”
- Female, full time student, phone owner, Yangon
“Since my husband is a pensioner, I usually manage the money my daughters send back. The elder daughter hand me half of her salary and the one in Malaysia sends 300,000 kyat a month back to me.”
- Female, government staff, 47 years, mobile owner, Yangon
“My father and I earn for a living. My mother cannot work since she is old. My father cannot work so much but earn 1400-1500 Kyats per month. I earn more than her because I run the shop at home. I earn 3000-3500 per day. We earn more than 1 Lakh per month. We give all the money to my mother.”
- Female, 22 years runs grocery shop, does not own phone, Pantanaw
“I run a shop at home. My younger brother earns from his pigpen. But he gets the money once in three-six months. The other one also gets money by farming. So, he also do not have regular income. My father and another younger brother is a fisherman. My young brother got nearly 3000-4000 Kyats per day. I also do not have regular income. I earn 4000/5000/8000-10000 Kyats per day. It also need capital daily and there also costs for feeding pigs. Total income is nearly 1 and a half lakh. We give all the money to mother. We can ask for money frankly at any time.”
- Female, 25 years, runs grocery shop, does not own phone, Pantanaw
This role of managing finances was usually assigned to women irrespective of whether the woman herself contributed to family earnings through a job. Even when women didn’t manage the funds, she was consulted.
“Although my husband hands his wagesto me, it’s him who manages the money. I need to ask his permission to use the money. Whenever he needs to spend some money, he always consults with me first.” ….“He hands me all his wages except for bus fares”
- Female, does not work, non-owner, 27 years, Yangon
“My husband and my elder son are the breadwinners for the family. My husband is a fishermanand my son sellsgroceries. They usually earn about 10,000 kyat per day…. I manage my family income—I buy the basic necessities for family daily. My husband and my elder son hand me all theirearnings.”
- Female, 55 years,does not work, does not own phone, Pantanaw