ECS3021 - Women in Economics

Daniela Curiel, Mauricio Ramirez ECS 3021
Professor Irma Alonso, Ph.D.
3 November 2019

Team Report 7: Employment

Pakistan’s employment sector is affected by gender inequality. Although Pakistan continues to declare that they endeavor for women's development, autonomy, and emancipation, the employment sector currently remains starkly divided between men and women. The gap in gender equality in employment is one of the essential areas to bridge to bring Pakistan's much- needed economic and social development changes. Most importantly, the conditions of Pakistani women must be changed for equal rights in the employment sector.

The male to female Gender Inequality Index (GII) for Pakistan stands at 0.541 and ranks at 133 (HDI Index). The GII of Pakistan demonstrates that the country is only slightly above low human development and remains as one of the last countries in the medium human development category. This is to be expected since the country is trying to progress in its gender inequality issues. However, Pakistan remains behind compared to other countries. Although hopeful, this positive trend is below-par compared to countries like Kenya that share similar HDI rakings to Pakistan. For example, Kenya remains four rankings higher than Pakistan in GII, at 137 (HDR Pakistan).

Nonetheless, Pakistan is maintaining its place among the medium human development indexes. In comparison, Pakistan exceeds some of the other countries in this category regarding expectations in GII. Countries such as Nepal are ranked among Pakistan’s HDI and hold and extremely lower GII ranking. Additionally, in the expected years of schooling for Pakistan, women still run 1.5 years behind men. Compared to the mean years of education, we see that Women run 2.7 years behind men in Pakistan. The Gross National Income per capita for women compared to men stands at a difference of $7,144. Meaning Men are better educated, better paid than women. This means that men are more capable of receiving better jobs and better salaries than women in Pakistan. Pairing these values together with GII, we see that there exists a noticeable level of gender disparities in employment (HDR Pakistan).

By investigating the economic activity of Pakistan by sector and by gender, we get to see that women's participation in the labor market in Pakistan. In Pakistan, women face “religious- cultural, economic and legal factors” that affect their careers negatively and lowers their standing in the economy (Javed). According to Javed et al., there is “a lack of female participation in formal, paid employment... [and] a clear division in the economic sectors in which men and women are active.” Most women in Pakistan work in the Agricultural sector the same as men. Nearly 73 percent of women in the labor force is in the agriculture sector. The labor force participation rate is 53.3 percent, with women representing 23 percent of all employed persons in Pakistan. In Pakistan, 14 percent of women work in manufacturing, and 6 percent work in education. In Pakistan's manufacturing sector, 12 percent of the male labor force is employed compared to women who only employ 3.27 percent (Javed, Turner, and Syed).

There exist differences in earnings when it comes to gender in Pakistan. The gender wage gap difference between men and women is prominent in Pakistan. According to the HDI report, Pakistan’s gage gap is 34 percent, which is more than double the global average. The HDI report also indicates that women "account for almost 90 percent of the bottom 1 percent of wage earners in Pakistan" (International Labour Organization). Additionally, maternity leave is offered for women in Pakistan. By law, Women must have a six-week post-natal fully paid leave from work. However, all women who are employed are entitled to a maximum of 12 weeks of fully paid maternity leave (Paycheck.pk).

Childcare programs or Daycares are vital for mothers in the modern world. As more women become part of the workforce, they need a service that takes care of their children. Daycare services provide food, shelter, and education for children and are extremely important for a child's development. "Both the Labor Protection Policy 2006 and Labor Policy 2010 talk about providing daycare facilities for the children of working mothers. Daycare facilities have also been ensured for children of working mothers under the Factories Act 1934. " (Paycheck).

According to the Pakistani legal system, the Provincial governments have the power to mandate factories with 50 or more working women to establish a room specially reserved for children under the age of 6. The place of business is, therefore, mandated to provide a trained nurse. Government-funded daycares are also offered to parents for a minimal amount of money per child.

There seems to be a problem with the amount of participation in formal employment. Much like the rest of the world, women in Pakistan are largely unrepresented in the workforce and are not given opportunities due to the patriarchal employment system. " (Broadbridge) " Not only do women make up a smaller percentage of the workforce, but they also are less likely to be put in positions of power, the Global Gender Gap Index illustrates the data in Table 20.2. In Pakistan women remain as the subordinates to men, progress must be made if they have any hopes in developing their country

In a desperate attempt to decrease the amount of child labor, the Pakistani government passed laws limiting child labor and indentured servitude. However, these laws are often ignored. "the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) last year estimated the number of Pakistani working children to be "realistically in the region of 11-12 million." (SILVERS) At least half these children are under the age of ten." Children are recruited from their parents, business owners in Pakistan prey on these impoverished homes, and offer them a small sum of money in return. The payments to the family are made in small increments. The total amount of their payments is often never payed out because their "bosses" subtract food, shelter, and penalize the children for their mistakes. These archaic practices are a complete and total abuse of any human rights.

In conclusion, Pakistan's policies have struggled to assuage the deeply rooted issues that affect gender inequality. Women in Pakistan have a long road ahead; as we can see, the employment rates show the evident inequality in job positions and opportunities.

Works Cited 

Broadbridge, Adelina M. "Diversity and Careers ." 2018. International Labour Organization. International Labour Organization. 28 November 2018. 3 November 2019. <https://www.ilo.org/islamabad/info/public/pr/WCMS_651658/lang-- en/index.htm>.

Javed, Sammar, Royce Turner, and Jawad Syed. "https://www.researchgate.net/publication/325533527_Gender_employment_and_careers _in_Pakistan." Research Handbook of Diversity and Careers New Horizons in Management series 20 (2018): 324 - 340. 3 November 2019.

Pakistan National Human Development Report: Unleashing the Potential of a Young Pakistan. n.d. <http://hdr.undp.org/sites/default/files/reports/2847/pk-nhdr.pdf>.

Paycheck. https://paycheck.pk/labour-laws/family-responsibility/working-parents. 2019. Paycheck.pk. Paycheck.pk. n.d. 3 November 2019. <https://paycheck.pk/labour-laws/maternity-work>.

SILVERS, JONATHAN. "Child Labor in Pakistan." The Atlantic (1996).