Me, The Change: For Young Women Voters, Mobile Phone Zaroori Hai!

According to the survey, more than three-fourth of the women surveyed said that they own a mobile phone.

(Photo: Aroop Mishra/The Quint)

The first-time woman voter has many aspects to her personality. She aspires to study more, dreams of a career and is willing to move for a job, the Lokniti-CSDS The Quint survey has shown. Data from the same survey, conducted as part of The Quint’s ‘Me, The Change’ campaign shows that she is also technologically forward and needs and wants a mobile phone in her daily life. According to the survey, more than three-fourth of the women surveyed own a mobile phone.

The survey looks at the wants and aspirations of 5,000 first-time women voters in the country, with regard to aspects of life such as education, health, career and personal freedom.

A Necessity in Daily Life

(Photo: The Quint)

The survey shows that the use of mobile phones is very high among women. According to the data, more than three-fourth of the young women surveyed said that they own a mobile phone.

Young women in towns are slightly ahead of their counterparts in big cities, with 88 percent owning a mobile phone, and 87 percent women in the latter.

Ninety percent of women said they use their mobile phone daily. Big cities led the survey with 96 percent young women saying that they use a phone daily.

In big cities, 47 percent of women below the age of 18 years get access to a mobile phone. In villages, it is 31 percent.

However, in villages, more young women got access to a mobile phone before the age of 21, with 83 percent, as opposed to only 78 percent in towns.

Why Want a Mobile Phone?

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Sixty-eight percent of all women surveyed said that their primary use was for making and receiving calls.

Following the purpose of calling, 5 percent of women surveyed said they use their phones to access the internet. Using social networking apps finished a close second, at 4 percent.

Seven percent of young women in big cities said they use their mobile phones for social networking apps. The number was 5 percent in towns and 3 percent in villages.

Across all groups of women from cities, villages and towns, WhatsApp was seen to be the most daily used platform, with 75 percent of educated women in big cities selecting it as their preferred platform.

At 52 percent, Facebook was seen to be equally popular among college-educated women in big cities and towns.

Awareness of News

(Photo: The Quint)

At 37 percent, more than one-third of all the young women surveyed said that their daily source of news is the television.

Across cities, towns and villages, the newspapers came in second as the primary source of news, with 34 percent in big cities, 38 percent in towns and 20 percent young women in villages selecting this option.