The global landscape of female labor force participation reveals a persistent gender gap and concerning trends. Worldwide, women's engagement in the workforce significantly lags behind that of men, with the current global labor force participation rate for women at just under 47% compared to 72% for men. This gap has been widening over the past two decades, with the global female labor force participation rate declining from 51.3% in 1998 to 48.5% in 2018. Regional variations further complicate this picture, with particularly low participation rates in the Middle East, North Africa, and South Asia, where less than 30% of women aged 15 and older are part of the labor force. These disparities highlight the complex interplay of cultural, social, and economic factors influencing women's workforce participation across different countries and regions.
Figure 1: Female labor force participation rate (percentage of female population age 15 and above, modeled ILO estimates) Source: World Bank Group Data
Figure 1 illustrates that despite modest improvements, Pakistan's female labor force participation rate remains significantly below both the South Asia average and the lower middle-income country average. While some progress has been made in closing the gap, significant disparities persist, indicating considerable room for improvement in engaging women in the workforce compared to similar countries.
Despite increases in education levels and declining fertility rates, a significant portion of the gender gap in employment and earnings persists due to societal norms that restrict women's choices and opportunities. Gender biased social norms are pervasive on a global scale, with nearly 90 percent of individuals harbouring inherent biases against women. These biases are prevalent across both men and women, indicating deep-seated integration within society, mirroring widely accepted social norms.
Deep-rooted societal attitudes and perceptions about women’s employment constitute significant hurdles that deter Pakistani women from entering the labour market. According to Gender Social Norms Index (2023), nearly 99.89 percent of the surveyed population in Pakistan possess at least a single bias against women.
As indicated by Figure 2, under economic dimension, 92.2 percent of Pakistanis agree with either of the statement: “men should have more rights to a job than women” and “men make better business executives than women do”. These statistics underscore the pressing need for targeted interventions to challenge and transform these ingrained beliefs that limit women’s opportunities to contribute to the labour market.
Figure 2: Percentage of people with bias by dimension in Pakistan
Source: Gender Social Norms Index (2023). Breaking Down Gender Biases: Shifting social norms towards gender equality
Social and cultural norms significantly restrict women's participation in the workforce through various channels:
❖ Traditional gender roles frequently confine women to unpaid domestic work and caregiving responsibilities. In South Asia, this disparity is particularly pronounced, with women undertaking a significantly larger share of unpaid care and household tasks compared to men. For example, in Pakistan, women report performing approximately ten times more unpaid domestic work than men. In India, the figure is nearly seven times more, while in Bangladesh, women carry out almost three times the amount of unpaid labor as their male counterparts. These ingrained roles not only limit women's opportunities to participate in the paid workforce but also perpetuate gender inequalities across the region.
Provision of childcare services is an effective policy for boosting female labor force participation. By outsourcing some of their unpaid childcare duties, women can allocate more time to paid employment. A World Bank study reports that preschool services in India led to a 10-percentage point increase in women’s labor force participation, reduced time spent on care activities, and improved work attendance.
❖ Social norms also restrict women's mobility and access to public spaces, limiting their ability to seek employment outside the home. In Pakistan, societal restrictions on women interacting with non-relatives, along with fears of harassment, social stigma, and discomfort, significantly impede women's freedom of movement and limit their access to economic opportunities. Improved access to safe and accessible transportation for employment opportunities has been shown to increase the likelihood of women finding jobs, especially in urban areas. The Women's Economic and Social Well-being Survey (2018) found that 34% of women aged 15 to 64 in Punjab (Pakistan) identify a lack of transportation as a significant barrier to entering the labor market.
Enhancing women's access to public transportation by strategically placing bus stations in areas with a high concentration of female workers and making private transportation services, such as ride-hailing services, affordable can significantly alleviate mobility restrictions for women. This, in turn, could lead to increased participation in the labor force.
❖ The potential of digitalization to enhance women’s workforce participation in South Asia is well documented, with evidence (Pakistan) showing a significant association between digitalization and increased female labor force participation. The digital economy offers new opportunities for women to work from home and earn a living. However, the positive impact of digitalization is undermined by sociocultural and institutional barriers that perpetuate the digital gender divide. In developing countries, discriminatory policies, restrictive social norms, and limited access to financial resources hinder women's ability to acquire and benefit from digital technologies. This creates a vicious cycle that limits women’s economic opportunities and prevents them from fully participating in the digital economy. Therefore, while digitalization holds promise for improving female labor force participation, addressing the underlying sociocultural and institutional factors is crucial to realizing its full potential.
Policymakers should ensure equal access to digital training programs for women and girls by integrating gender-responsive practices that cater to their specific needs and enhance digital literacy. Furthermore, it is essential to develop policies that make digital devices and internet connectivity more affordable to improve overall access to technology.
Directly addressing social and cultural norms can be challenging and gradual, but framing policies with these norms in mind offers a more pragmatic approach to boosting female labor force participation. Seema Jayachandran's research suggests that both strategies—navigating around existing norms and attempting to change them—can be effective. Policies tailored to cultural norms, such as improving childcare access and transportation options, can support women’s success in the workforce despite prevailing norms. Over time, these policies may also help shift societal attitudes and reduce gender employment gaps. Thus, while tackling social norms directly remains important, designing policies that accommodate these norms can provide immediate benefits and gradually promote cultural change.