Despite the fact that Pakistan is the ninth largest country in the world with respect to the size of its labour force but in terms of women’s access to paid employment outside the agriculture sector, situation in the country is the worst in comparison with other states of Asia and the Pacific region.
Findings of the ADB report:
Statistics, compiled by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), reveal that only four economies in Asia and the Pacific region, including Hong Kong, China, Kazakhstan and Mongolia, offer equal employment opportunities to both men and women. In 17 economies, men hold more than 60 per cent of wage jobs outside the agriculture sector. Numbers depict that Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India and Pakistan are striking cases. In these countries, men outnumber women by four to one.
According to figures, Pakistan has the highest disparity in the paid job market when compared to the entire region as women hardly secure over 12 per cent jobs in non-agricultural sectors. Moreover, in India and Afghanistan, women’s share in wage employment outside agriculture is around 18 per cent and in Bangladesh, the figure touches 20 per cent.
Wage employment favourS men:
Data on female wage employment of 31 countries in the region shows that only four developing economies have ratios of around 50 per cent. These countries include Hong Kong, China, Kazakhstan and Mongolia. In another 12 economies, more than 40 per cent of non-agricultural wage jobs are held by women. In the remaining 17, men hold a large majority.
The study highlights that, in most economies, wage employment in non-agriculture sectors is more favourable towards men. In most societies, wage employment outside of agriculture is much sought after by both men and women because work as farm labourers is physically hard and usually poorly remunerated. Also, self-employment and working in a family enterprise is often precarious and vulnerable.
gender equality & development:
In contrast to developing economies, women wage employment outside the agriculture sector is 50 per cent in New Zealand, around 48 per cent in Australia and about 42 per cent in Japan. These numbers represent greater gender equality and integration of women into the monetary economy, the study indicates.
The Economic Survey of Pakistan 2010-11 also depicts a similar picture. It points out that inequality in the job market is a major hurdle in economic development of the country. Pakistan’s population in mid-2011 is estimated at 177.1 million, 2.1 per cent higher than that of last year, of which 50 per cent are women who do not take part in economic development of the country, with a few exceptions of course.
Pakistan’s dependent population:
Population demographics shows that 43 per cent of the population are children under 15 years of age, 53 per cent are between the ages of 15 and 64 and about four per cent are 65 years old and above. These figures represent that children comprise a huge proportion of the population, implying that they are dependents on the country’s economy. About four per cent of the population happens to be of old people which form another group of dependents. In this way, the age structure of the population of Pakistan shows that a majority (nearly two thirds) of them are dependents.
Though these figures on the one hand represent that Pakistan is going to have a young population, on the other hand it portrays a bleak picture as the number of non-productive people is rising.
