Article Title: Does the Use of Mobile Phones Predict Women’s Economic Empowerment at the Household Level in Pakistan?
Author(s): Syeda Azra Batool
Institute(s): School of Economics, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan
Journal: Pakistan Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 2018, Vol. 16, No.1, 39-46
Correspondence Address: Dr. Syeda Azra Batool Assistant Professor, School of Economics, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan. Email: azrabatools@yahoo.com
Abstract
Economic empowerment strengthens a woman’s status in the family and has positive impact on her social and psychological well-being. In order to improve the social status of women, it is crucial to explore and assess the determinants of women’s economic empowerment. The present study empirically assessed the role of the use of mobile phones in the economic empowerment of women at the household level by controlling two rigorously researched demographic variables (viz., age and education). A sample of 302 non-working married women of age ranged between 21 and 49 year (Mage= 27.34 year, S.D = 12.32) was conveniently selected from the four randomly selected towns of city district Lahore (Pakistan).The control over economic resources was used as a women’s economic empowerment variable. Hierarchical regression was run to measure the predictive strength of the use of mobile phones in the economic empowerment of women by controlling age and education. The results supported the hypothesis that the use of mobile phones was a positive and significant predictor of economic empowerment of women after controlling women’s age and education. Implications of the study and policy matters were also discussed.
Keywords: Age, education, use of mobile phone, hierarchical regression, economic empowerment, media
