Gender gap and Pakistan

Pakistan has one of the world’s worst gender gaps in its economy, ranking second-last among 146 countries surveyed for the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report. The only country below Pakistan was Afghanistan. Women had the lowest share of senior, managerial and legislative roles in Pakistan, and the country was among the worst in terms of healthcare parity and education. However, the education gap was not as significant as several other categories. The only list in which Pakistan cracked the top 100 was political empowerment — 95^th — which is largely attributable to reserved seats rather than direct political participation.

However, there was some silver lining. Pakistan’s improvements in most categories were its highest ever since the first report was published in 2006, and the only notable decline was in labour force participation, which was also severely affected by the economic upheaval of the Covid-19 pandemic and lockdowns. Average wages for women were actually up, as was educational attainment. However, the latter number was skewed due to a reduction in the number of men considered literate.

It is also worth noting that South Asia remains, in general, a weak performer. Apart from Bangladesh, which was in 71^st place, most other countries were outside the top 100. Even India, the region’s most populous country, was just 10 spots ahead of Pakistan, the lowest rank for any major economy. The report also warns that governments and the private sector must come up with “targeted policies to support women’s return to the workforce and women’s talent development in the industries of the future”, lest the gains of several decades be erased.

But for Pakistan, it is not just a matter of policies or incentives. Underutilisation of the economic potential of half our population has been a major factor in the country’s failure to develop, but unfortunately, social norms cannot change overnight, and several people still frown upon the idea of women working, especially alongside men. Even among those who are not outright opposed to women working, a large share of people believe that work is just something for a woman to do till she gets married and has children. Others still fear the ‘independence’ that work provides women, believing that the ability to break away from abusive relationships is somehow a bad thing.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 15^th, 2022.

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