Motivation
Mobile financial services (MFS) offer fast, affordable, and secure channels for sending money, yet women remain significantly underrepresented among users. Bangladesh has a large and expanding overseas workforce, including a growing number of low-skilled women, but little is known about how digital remittance tools influence women’s decisions to migrate, stay employed abroad, or manage their earnings. Moreover, female migrants often remit a higher share of their income and play a central role in household well-being. Understanding how digital remittance channels intersect with women’s labor migration decisions is crucial for designing policies that expand safe, profitable, and empowering opportunities for women migrant workers.
Objective
This exploratory study examines how the adoption of MFS influences women’s overseas labor force participation and identifies the key barriers and enablers shaping MFS use for international remittances. The study will survey 2,500 randomly selected low-skilled Bangladeshi migrant workers—both men and women—who have either recently returned from overseas or are preparing to migrate. The sample will be divided into five sub-groups based on gender and migration status. Comparisons across these groups will allow the researchers to assess gendered patterns in MFS adoption and the relationship between digital remittance use and continued overseas employment.
Proposed Impact
Findings will deepen understanding of how digital financial connectivity affects women’s participation in overseas labour markets. Insights will support the design of targeted interventions—such as digital and financial literacy training—for low-income women seeking to migrate for work. By leveraging insights, policymakers and development organizations can design tailored solutions that promote women’s empowerment, increase the security and efficiency of remittances, and strengthen the long-term benefits of labor migration for women and their families.
