WhatsApp and Women’s Livelihoods
How everyday digital practices shape pathways to economic participation
ByCaribou
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Caribou conducted an extensive study of women’s use of WhatsApp for livelihoods across India, Kenya, Nigeria, and Pakistan. WhatsApp is the specific focus because of its unique scale: Meta reports more than 3 billion monthly active WhatsApp users globally. It functions as the de facto messaging platform across many low- and middle-income countries.
Micro- and small enterprises make up more than 90% of all enterprises across these same low- and middle-income countries, and WhatsApp has become a primary communication layer for many of them. Yet there is little available evidence about how many women rely on it for their livelihoods, or how deeply. This research addresses that gap, combining nationally representative surveys of 7,000 adults, fielded by Ipsos in June 2025, with qualitative interviews conducted by Turn.io. It examines how many women use WhatsApp for livelihood activities, how deeply these practices extend, and what factors shape the gap between casual use and effective use across income segments.
Details
- Publication Date
- Apr 20, 2026
- Language
- English
- ISBN
- 9781291750072
- Category
- Social Science
- Copyright
- Creative Commons NonCommercial, ShareAlike (CC BY-NC-SA)
- Contributors
- By (author): Caribou
Specifications
- Pages
- 112
- Binding Type
- Paperback Perfect Bound
- Interior Color
- Color
- Dimensions
- US Letter (8.5 x 11 in / 216 x 279 mm)