We began this research with the aim of understanding the extent to which legal identification (particularly a national ID) plays a role in women’s employment and income generation and retention. ID is often seen as an essential piece of documentation for women. Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 16.9 explicitly refers to a ‘legal identity for all by 2030’ while the World Bank and GSMA both note the gender gap in legal identification. What we know less about is what motivates women to obtain an ID. What are the key drivers or the pull factors? This report highlights the ways in which ID is critical for women in finding work and therefore could be used as a driver to incentivise women to obtain and have agency over their own IDs.
