Celebrating women... till things get serious

On March 8, International Women’s Day came and went; however, the staggering disparities between economic indicators for men and women remained. The World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report for 2024 shows how Pakistan has regressed, falling by three ranks in comparison to the previous year.

Pakistan was able to secure a measly 0.570 on the global gender gap index, allowing it to rank only above war-torn Sudan out of the 146 countries which were part of the study. For reference, a score of 0 indicates a complete lack of equality between genders, whereas a score of 1 suggests perfect parity.

Statistics indicate that women face barriers in attaining education, as the female literacy rate sits at 52 percent compared to 73 percent for males. Consequently, women are often confined to the unskilled labour force, earning meagre incomes. Even if they are qualified to secure a decent-paying job, they are usually deprived of the opportunity to seek employment altogether.

Women are frequently denied the right to actively participate in the economy and often lose out on opportunities to increase their standard of living. They are locked out of the workforce and are relegated to unpaid tasks – such as custodial duties in the household.

Proof of the aforementioned fact can be found in Pakistan’s economic parity value, which is at an uneasy 36 percent. When a certain stratum of the population, in this case, women, are deprived of economic opportunities, the prolonged absence of an income stream can result in imbalances in wealth and property ownership.

Moreover, the gap in property ownership is exacerbated as women are denied their right to inherit their share. A survey conducted by Gallup Pakistan in October 2024 revealed that approximately 35 percent of Pakistanis share the view that women are blocked from claiming their rightful share.

Data from the latest Pakistan Demographic and Health Survey (PDHS) revealed that only two percent of women own land as opposed to their male counterparts, of whom 27 percent are land owners. The gap is even more insidious when home ownership is concerned, as 72 percent of males own houses compared to just three percent of women.

While the PDHS has not been conducted in a while, the findings from 2018 remain highly relevant in offering insights as no notable shifts have been noted in key metrics to suggest that ownership levels have significantly deviated from the aforementioned values.

Comparing property ownership along the lines of gender is essential as owning property can unlock access to credit – as formal banking institutions require collateral before issuing loans. This results in female entrepreneurs running into issues blocking them from operating their businesses efficiently.

As per a recent World Bank report on women’s economic empowerment in Pakistan, women are, on average, 55 percent less likely to operate full-time businesses, and are 11 percentage points less likely to run businesses with ‘regular wage’ employees.

If Pakistan seeks to improve the standing of its women, the government could consider investing in education and protecting women's property rights. Perhaps such investments could allow for future reports to reveal a fall in the hardships women have to face in Pakistan.