Women’s digital access has witnessed significant jump post pandemic: MC Analysis

Access to mobile phone for women has increased

Women have bridged the digital divide over the past two years, with low-cost telephony making mobile phones ubiquitous.

A Moneycontrol analysis of data released by the statistics ministry found that the number of women with access to mobile phones with an active sim rose to 78.7 percent in 2022-23 from 56.7 percent during the pandemic period.

However, the analysis found that these states still lag in internet access. The divide is even greater when it comes to people’s ability to conduct online transactions.

Only 57.5 percent of people had access to the internet in 2022-23 and just 37.8 percent could conduct online transactions.

While 56.5 percent of the people in Tamil Nadu and 61.8 percent in Telangana knew how to conduct online transactions, the ratio was 19.8 percent for Chhattisgarh and 24.4 percent for Uttar Pradesh.

The gender divide was also more pronounced in these states, indicating women were yet to achieve financial independence with respect to the digital world.

In Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh, men were three times more likely than women to use online banking. Men were twice as likely nationally to operate online accounts, while in Tamil Nadu, men were 40 percent more likely.