Motivation
Despite growing access to mobile technology, women in rural India continue to face significant gaps in smartphone ownership, digital skills, and control over digital resources. Much of the existing evidence on the relationship between mobile phone access and women’s empowerment is correlational, making it difficult to determine whether observed outcomes reflect causal effects. Moreover, empowerment outcomes often unfold gradually, shaped by household norms, bargaining power, and sustained engagement with digital tools. This study addresses these gaps by generating causal evidence on the impact of women’s smartphone access on empowerment. Moreover, the study examines the extent to which early impacts persist, grow, or fade over time, and how women actually use smartphones when given sustained access.
Objective
This study builds on an ongoing randomized controlled trial in rural Uttar Pradesh that examines the impact of internet-enabled smartphone ownership, combined with structured and adaptive digital training, on women’s agency and economic participation. The second endline will capture longer-term impacts on empowerment, labor market participation, and gender attitudes. The study uses a village-level randomized controlled trial with women assigned to one of three groups: a smartphone-only group, a smartphone-plus-digital-training group, and a control group. Key outcomes include women’s empowerment, intrahousehold bargaining power, digital financial service use, health and hygiene, and multi-dimensional poverty. In addition, the study collects monthly high-frequency data on smartphone usage, app engagement, confidence in device usage, and time use,. Lastly, in-depth interviews with women demonstrating high and low levels of digital engagement will explore mechanisms, constraints, and contextual factors shaping empowerment outcomes.
Proposed impact
This research will generate rigorous causal evidence on the long-term effects of smartphone ownership and digital training on women’s empowerment in low-income rural settings. By combining quantitative outcomes, high-frequency behavioral data, and qualitative insights, the study will help clarify whether digital access alone is sufficient to improve empowerment outcomes, or whether structured, adaptive digital content is necessary to sustain impact. The findings will be relevant for policymakers, implementers, and researchers designing interventions to advance women’s digital inclusion, agency, and decision-making power. More broadly, the study will generate policy-relevant insights into the conditions under which digital connectivity can translate into meaningful empowerment for women.
