Mobile internet, well-being and gender: Understanding the links

In partnership with the University of Pennsylvania, the GSMA Connected Women team developed a multidimensional well-being index to explore the interplay between mobile internet use and well-being among men and women. The report hinges on the application of this multidimensional index in Bangladesh and Ghana, using quantitative and supporting qualitative data. Some of the key findings of the report are that mobile internet use is positively correlated with the well-being of many users. However, the degree of correlation differs substantially by country and demographic while the local context matters. In both Ghana and Bangladesh, important factors included gender, location, family size, and level of income and education. For women, the type of handset used and how frequently mobile internet is accessed has an impact on the link between mobile internet use and well-being.