i.
Introduction
“No Nation Can Rise to height of Its Glory unless your women are side by side
with you”
Muhammad Ali Jinnah, Father of Nation
Despite such an emphasis on the participation of women in every aspect of life by
Quaid e Azam, Pakistan has been ranked as 151 out 153 on Global Gender Parity
Index by World Economic Forum and out of total employed persons in labor force,
77% are males and only 23% are females. Pakistan has held such positions for quite
some time now. The reasons behind such participation plight of women in labor
force are lack of opportunities, wage-gaps, workplace harassment and
stigmatization of women employment. Furthermore an IMF study indicates that
Pakistan labor force participation can increase by one-third if women-labor force
participation rates match male participation rates.
ii. Analysis of Women and Employment in Pakistan:
1. Pakistan has the lowest female labor force participation:
Though women constitute 48.1% of Pakistan’s population, they constitute only
23% of labor force. This is less than global average of 51%. The International
Labor Organization data shows that male labor force participation is three
times higher than women. This gender gap in labor force is one of the world’s
highest, making Pakistan comparable with Arab States and countries of North
Africa.
2. Huge Wage-Gap between Men and Women:
A UN-Women study estimates that in Pakistan wage-gap is 26%, indicating that
women are paid only 74% of men’ wages. Moreover only 37% of women
workers are paid wages regularly while others are engaged as part-time or
piece rate workers. Of the regularly paid women. 55% receives less than
applicable minimum wage (17500).
3. Most employed women are working in Informal Sectors specially
Agriculture:
According to Labor Force Survey 2014-2015 most employed women in Pakistan
are engaged in informal sector, working without any legal protection. They are
concentrated in agriculture (72%), manufacturing (14%) and community and
domestic services (11%). Moreover in formal sector specially public
representation of women is less than 2% which further reduces as one moves
up in hierarchy.
4. Pakistan faces a huge loss in GDP per capita due to gender parity:
An IMF study estimates that Pakistani GDP can increase by one-third if women
labor force participation rates match male participation rates. Moreover
International Labor Organization indicates that if Pakistan merely reduces the
gender gap in female participation by 25% its GDP can increase by 9%, an
increase of $139 Billion. It is much more that US aid in last 18 years ($33 Billion)
and CPEC loans and investments (more than just $60 Billion).
iii. Causes of Low Employment Rates of Women:
1. Low Wages for Women:
One potential explanation for low female labor force participation is that the
jobs available to women pay low wages. Women earn less that men and this
trend is persistent. They generally earn less than one-third of their male
counterparts. The reason behind this is that whatever the profession is they
are always considered as secondary workers.
2. Patriarchal Norms and Exposures:
Gender norms clearly have some role to play in restricting women’s labor force
participation in Pakistan, either by restraining women completely to homes or
by confining their work to certain acceptable occupations. Men are seen as
primary bread winners and most people agree that if jobs are scarce,
employers should favor men.
3. Lack of Security in Mobility of Women:
Limited mobility outside home because of cultural norms and security
concerns greatly affects women labor force participation. In Pakistan especially
in large metropolitan cities, even if work environment itself is considered safe
and acceptable, travelling to work may create a level of exposure that violate
norms. For example in a survey of women in Karachi (2016) who travel
regularly, 85% of women said they had been harassed on public transport past
year.
4. Segregation of Professions on the basis of Sexes and Genders:
Legally there is no industry that is closed to women. However, in practice,
certain professions either see higher concentration of women or negligible
concentration. For example in technical and associate professions like
engineering women represents on 1.18% of total labor force. Whereas
professions like nursing have higher participation of women than man. This is
because these professions are considered as extensions of care-giving roles of
women.
5. No Job flexibility for working mothers:
In Pakistan mostly employees with minor children do not have any additional
rights to flexible or part-time work schedule. Even payments made by working
mothers for childcare are not free. Maternity leave (12 weeks of paid leave) is
also much less than that of global average.
6. Plight of Women’s Education in Pakistan:
The picture of women’s educational conditions in Pakistan is grim. More than
40% of girls never enroll in school and almost 13% have to abandon their
education just after 9th grade. Moreover enrolment of women further
decrease as educational levels increases. Lack of higher education and
professional training Is also one of the major causes of women low labor force
participation.
iv. Recommendations:
1. Making More ‘Suitable and Secure’ Workplaces:
Sexual harassment is widespread in Pakistan. In Karachi which is considered a
city with social norms most favorable to women’ work, 96% of female
respondents in a study reported that either they or their colleagues faced
sexual harassment at work place. Although in 2010, Pakistan passed Protection
Against Harassment Of Women At Workplace Act, it still needed a rigid
implementation of it.
2. Increasing demand for female workers in sectors with attractive jobs:
Policies should be targeted to increase labor demand in particular types of jobs
in which women are more likely to work. For example manufacturing (Textile
and Apparel) and white collar jobs ( Professional Services).
3. Education: Preparing women for better jobs:
As white-collar jobs are more popular among women in Pakistan, their
secondary and higher educational levels must be increase to elevate their
access to these jobs. Quality and relevance of vocational training of women
should also be assessed with its expansion. Presently only 10 percent of
women have post-secondary education whereas their chances of working for
pay increase three-fold with post-secondary education compared to women
with primary education.
4. Availability of Safe and Secure Public Transportation for Women:
Public transportation and city infrastructure development is another policy
tool particularly relevant for enhancing women’s mobility in Pakistan. Yet
there is no state-provided transportation in most cities, and it is completely
absent from rural areas. Safe transportation could alleviate some of the
problems women face in pursuing work opportunities.
5. Elimination of Unpaid Care Work:
The burden of unpaid care work with high fertility rate is in many ways at the
root of all of these problems because more children result in more unpaid care
work and it also means that women will be in poorer health conditions. While
recognizing women’s overwhelming engagement in unpaid care work, private
and public sector must contribute to reducing the burden by for example
investing in daycare centers and adequate maternity and paternity leaves.
6. Enabling environment for women-owned businesses:
Globally women-owned businesses are found to hire more women. Pakistan
has only one percent of women entrepreneurs because they experience
several challenges including limited access to finance and markets. Policies
should be introduced in enabling women to found and run their own
businesses. For example credit availability should be made available without
gender discrimination.
7. Introduction of Detailed Minimum Wage Policies:
The ILO research indicates that minimum wage policies can be used to combat
gender-based pay discrimination. Minimum wage legislation and policies can
also be used for targeting specific vulnerable groups of workers, earlier
excluded from the purview of minimum wage legislation. For example
domestic workers, home-based workers and the informal sector workers.
v. Conclusion:
As the world is moving closer towards gender-equality, working woman in Pakistan
still experience a torment of injustices at workplaces. Amongst many other factors,
a lack of opportunities, wage-gaps, workplace harassment and stigmatization of
women employment contribute to the aforementioned issue. Pakistan needs its
women to enter the workforce and thrive in public and economic life. Investment
in human capital, gender-sensitive policies and transforming social norms can
change the status of women’s economic participation. Without increasing
women’s participation, Pakistan cannot meet its development targets or
reasonably expect to become a competitive state and society in the 21st century.
