It is befuddling that successive chains of Pakistan’s leadership over the past many decades have expected Pakistan to economically rise while the best of the best of Pakistan, its women, comprising 52% of the population, are expected to contribute from the margins. It has been well documented globally that women are the backbone of any economy. Worldwide, women’s labour force participation rate is 52.6% of the total labour force. However, in Pakistan, only 24% of women are part of the labour force, compared to over 80% of men. Agriculture continues to be the main sector for women’s employment. 67% of women are employed in agriculture (as compared to 27% of men). Most of the work performed by women is unpaid, which includes seven million women working in agriculture who fall into the category of contributing family workers. Millions of women are further burdened by unpaid care work, spending nearly 10 times more hours than men in caring for the home, family, elders, and the ill. If this doesn’t seem right, it isn’t.

To draw further comparisons, it is notable that Thailand, Bangladesh, and Pakistan have workforces split in similar percentages between agriculture (31, 36, and 36), industry (22, 22, and 25), and services (47, 41, and 38). However, the Gender Gap ranking of 146 countries places........

© The Nation