Digital Financial Inclusion and Financial Health in Kenya: Gendered Analysis

This paper adopted propensity score matching to estimate the propensity of digital financial inclusion among women in Kenya and the average treatment effect of digital financial inclusion on financial health of women in Kenya. Utilizing the Financial Access Survey 2021 dataset on 22024 households, the study found that the socio-demographic aspects that contributed to the digital financial uptake among women was the level of education, marital status, religion, age, and place of residence, with significant differences between users and non-users of digital finance. In addition, with mobile phone and television ownership, there was a higher likelihood of women using digital finance, with a significant difference between users and non-users. Additionally, it was found that women in Kenya using digital finance are more likely to be financially healthy. We, therefore, recommend that more targeted approach by government and financial institutions towards enhancing digital literacy, the government needs to implement gender-responsive policies that would foster the subsidization of mobile devices and offer incentives for mobile network operators to strengthen rural network connectivity, and the Kenya government and financial institutions could capitalize on accessible communication channels such as mobile phones, radio, and community outreach programs.

本研究采用倾向得分匹配（propensity score matching）法，对肯尼亚女性群体的数字普惠金融（digital financial inclusion）参与倾向，以及数字普惠金融对肯尼亚女性金融健康的平均处理效应（average treatment effect）进行了估计。本研究依托覆盖22024户家庭的《2021年金融获取调查》（Financial Access Survey 2021）数据集开展分析，结果显示，影响肯尼亚女性数字金融使用行为的社会人口特征包括受教育水平、婚姻状况、宗教信仰、年龄以及居住地，且数字金融使用者与非使用者之间存在显著差异。此外，拥有移动电话与电视机的女性使用数字金融的概率更高，使用者与非使用者之间同样存在显著差异。进一步研究发现，使用数字金融的肯尼亚女性更易拥有良好的金融健康状况。据此，本研究提出如下建议：政府与金融机构应采取更具针对性的举措提升数字素养；政府需出台兼顾性别平等的政策，推动移动设备补贴工作，并为移动网络运营商提供激励以强化农村网络连通性；肯尼亚政府与金融机构可依托移动电话、广播及社区推广项目等触达性强的传播渠道开展相关工作。