Women bridge the gap with men on mobile phone usage: Govt survey

Digital literacy has improved

Women have bridged the gap with men on mobile phone usage among the youth (15–29-year-old) over the last three years, a new survey released by the government.

The number of people who used a mobile phone at least once in three months from January-March, rose to 98 percent for men compared with 95.9 percent in 2022-23 and to 95.5 percent for women from 90.5 percent earlier in rural areas.

In urban areas, 98 percent of the men had used a mobile phone once compared with 97.2 percent of women, up from 95 percent in 2022-23.

While there is a yawning gap in ownership, with 81.2 percent men owning a mobile compared with 56.9 percent women in rural areas, digital literacy has improved.

The survey conducted by statistics ministry reported 89.8 percent women using internet in rural areas compared with 95.4 percent men. In 2022-23, only 72.8 percent women used internet over the last three months compared with 85.7 percent of men.

In urban areas, 94.3 percent of women used internet compared with 96.9 percent men. On the other hand, 87.8 percent women had used internet in 2022-23 compared with 93.8 percent.

More rural young females could send messages with attachment as well (78.7 percent) compared with 66.1 percent, while men’s ratio was higher at 87.7 percent from 81 percent.

“In India, approximately 85.5 percent of households possessed at least one smartphone. Around 86.3 percent households in India have access to internet within the household premises,” the statistics ministry report stated.