More Filipino women online sellers, but male sellers make more — PIDS study

There are slightly more Filipino women engaged in online selling but they earn less than their male counterparts, according to a recent study conducted by the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS).

According to the ‘Expanded Data Analysis and Policy Research for National ICT Household Survey 2019,” the proportion of female internet users engaged in online selling stood at 5%, higher than the 4% for men.

The same study found that male online sellers have a higher online sales average of P10,898 versus the P6,041 for females, but researchers noted that more data is needed to establish whether the gap is gendered or attributable to other factors.

“We conducted some basic econometric modeling and observed that engagement in online selling is more likely for women, married individuals, and more educated persons,” said PIDS Senior Research Fellow Jose Ramon Albert, one of the authors of the study.

“As a person grows older, there is a greater chance of engaging in online selling, but this reverses among older people,” he added.

The study was also authored by Senior Research Fellow Francis Mark Quimba, Research Fellow Aubrey D. Tabuga, Consultant Mary Grace Mirandilla-Santos, former Supervising Research Specialist Maureen Ane D. Rosellon, Research Specialist Jana Flor V. Vizmanos, Research Analyst Mika S. Muñoz, and former Research Analyst Carlos C. Cabaero.

Albert also said that Filipinos in rural areas are less likely to engage in online selling, while unemployed, self-employed, and students are more likely to sell online than employed individuals.

“Homemakers are less likely to engage in online selling compared to employed workers,” said Albert.

Moving forward, the researchers called on the government to push policies which would reskill the workforce and enhance the educational capacity of the population.

“The country needs to regularly measure and monitor digital skills — both life skills and competencies for work,” the study said.

“Training the older population and less educated concerning the practical applications of ICT, as well as enhancing the general population’s knowledge and usage of online platforms in conducting online transactions, will equitably improve the population’s ability to benefit from ICT,” it added. — RSJ, GMA News