| Summary: | This report presents empirical evidence showing the existence of a first-level
digital gender divide in the Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) region.
It does so by leveraging the richness of two data sources: the Gallup World
Poll and digital trace data on the gender composition of Facebook users
available from its advertising platform. Results from the analysis of the Gallup
World Poll show that in the 23 Latin American countries under analysis,
there exists a digital gender gap in mobile-phone ownership whereby women
are on average less likely to own a mobile phone than men. The digital
gender gap is gradually narrowing over time, yet with an apparent worsening
over the last half decade. Additionally, characteristics such as gender,
socio-economic status, and household location of residence interact with
each other producing multiple layers of disadvantage for women. Specifically,
low-educated women living in rural areas turn out to be the least
“connected” group, thus highlighting important areas for policy intervention.
Therefore, addressing these inequalities is an opportunity to know the
realities of rural women to improve their access to this resource and promote
their economic and political empowerment. Results from aggregate
analyses are confirmed by a micro- level analysis (N=120000+) showing
that, across specifications, women are less likely to own a mobile phone
than their male counterparts even after accounting for a host of
socio-demographic characteristics. When we augment the Gallup data with indicators retrieved from the International
Labor Organization (ILO), we find that a narrower digital gender
gap is associated with better labor - market prospects for women as well.
Looking further at types of digital connectivity for those who are online, we
analyse social media use by gender in countries of the region by looking at
the gender composition of Facebook users, one of the largest social media
platforms used in the region. The Facebook gender gap index, defined as
the ratio of female-to-male Facebook users divided by the female-to-male
ratio of the population, shows that, relative to countries in Sub-Saharan
Africa and Asia, male and female Facebook penetration rates in Latin America
are quite balanced. This result masks, however, some heterogeneities.
In fact, while in several countries of the region including Brazil, Argentina,
Venezuela, Colombia, Suriname, Uruguay and Paraguay, women are more
likely to be Facebook users than men, in others, including Mexico and the
Central American region (e.g. Nicaragua, Guatemala) men are slightly more
active on Facebook. We conclude by reflecting on data limitations and
proposing fruitful avenues for future research.
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