Proxy Coverage of Mobile Phone Surveys in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: A Family Profile

In many low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) where mobile-phone sharing among family members is common, interviewing proxy-covered populations (persons who do not own mobile phones but who are potentially accessible through devices owned by other household members) is an opportunity survey practitioners should use, especially given that proxy-covered populations have distinct characteristics as opposed to directly covered and not-covered populations. This can be done by treating mobile phones as a tool for accessing all proxy-covered users who live with the owner in the same household. To encourage practitioners in this direction, in this research note, we explore the family profile of data from eight LMICs to understand the relationship between proxy-covered adults and other family members. As expected, we found that proxy-covered adults are more likely to be wives, daughters, and sons.