INTRODUCTION
The invisible hands of
women have always been contributing for the welfare and socio-economic progress
of Pakistan. She is a mother, sister, wife, teacher, character-builder, shaping
the intellect of those who are to step into the world and she is also a ‘LABOURER’.
To plunge into the topic, we all need to understand that what it means to be a
labourer, according to Collins desktop
plus dictionary a labourer is a
person who is engaged in physical work especially of unskilled kind. According
to www.thefreedictionary.com labourers
are those who work with their hands or those engaged in manual work.
OVERALL
VIEW
In Pakistan 36.7
percent women are engaged in economic activity. As a proportion of male
engagement, women constitute only 44 percent in Pakistan. The progress in this
direction in Pakistan, however, has been good since 1990 i.e. by 29 percent. As
far as pattern of employment by economic activity is concerned, we find
similarity among SAARC countries. Women engaged in agriculture are higher than
men while they are low in the industry and service sector. Pakistan also has a very low level of female workforce
participation. Pakistan is almost at the lowest in the world
ranking in the labour force participation of women and opportunity for women. In
the Global Gender Gap Report of the World Economic Forum, Pakistan occupied the
126th position among 128 countries.
The economic
benefits of female employment are clear: more women working increases a
nation’s output and is an important contributor to household income. Moreover,
recent studies indicate that women’s and men’s relative control of resources
has significant and different impacts on household consumption patterns. When
women control resources, more of those resources are devoted to family welfare—
especially nutrition, education and health— than when men control the resources.
Less is devoted to alcohol and cigarettes. At the margin, female control of
resources results in a greater positive impact on child survival, nutrition, and
school enrollments than do male control of resources. Simply, women tend to
invest more in the human capital of their children than do men. The impact on
long-term development is obvious.
Pakistan’s female formal labor force participation rate hovered around 15 percent in 2003. While that represented a tripling over the past 20 years, female
labor force participation is still low in an absolute sense and relative to
other countries with similar per capita GDP. (*1)
Pakistan’s female
population was estimated at 78 million out of the national population of 161
million in the year 2008 and is steadily increasing with an average annual
growth rate of. Approximately 45.9
million women in the country were at working age (15 years and above) compared
to 47.2 million men, in 2008. In line with the increases in the female
population, the number of women in working age is constantly growing with the
largest increases in rural areas. In 2008, almost two thirds of working age women
(29.8 million) was living in rural areas and just 16.1 per cent in urban areas.
In accordance with a growing female working population, the female labour force
participation rate increased over time. Nevertheless, it was with 21.8 per cent in 2008 still very low if
considered from an international or regional point of view. Globally, 52.6
percent of women in working age were economically active (employed or
unemployed) in 2007. Furthermore, the regional average labour force
participation of women in South Asia was with 35.6 percent, much higher than
Pakistan’s labour force participation rate for women. (PAKISTAN EMPLOYMENT TRENDS FOR WOMEN 2009
(SERIES NO.5) April 2009 Labour Market Information and Analysis Unit Ministry
of Labour and Manpower Government of Pakistan ISLAMABAD)
Keeping in view the
national context we shall divide the topic into the following parts:
1.
Women in Agricultural Sector
2.
Women in the Industrial/Manufacturing
Sector
3.
Women in the Tertiary/Cottage industry
4.
Women as House maids and Baby sitters
*1 (UNPF and PRB, Country
Profiles for Population and Reproductive Health: Policy Developments and
Indicators (United Nations Population Fund / Population Reference Bureau, 2003),
p.147.)
PERCENTAGE DISTRIBUTION OF FEMALE
EMPLOYEES BY AVERAGE WAGES MAJOR INDUSTRY AND SEX 2008-2009
|
MAJOR
INDUSTRY DIVISION
|
TOTAL EMPLOYEES
|
AVERAGE
MONTHLY PAYMENTS
|
|
FEMALE
|
100
|
5188.16
|
|
Agriculture, Forestry and Hunting
|
23.13
|
2971.81
|
|
Mining and
quarrying
|
0.03
|
7333.70
|
|
Manufacturing
|
24.93
|
2911.7
|
|
Electricity,
gas and water supply
|
0.11
|
10049.86
|
|
Construction
|
1.72
|
5019.6
|
|
Other community, social and
personal service activities
|
6.77
|
3517.08
|
|
Activities of
private households
|
4.5
|
2058.73
|
|
Others
|
30
|
6000
|
WOMEN
IN THE AGRICULTURAL SECTOR
Pakistan is an
agrarian country and produces finest quality of rice, wheat and other food
grains. Women in Pakistan comprised almost half of
total population and their participation
rate in agricultural sector is about 70 percent. Pakistani rural women
actively participate in agriculture and contribute in all areas including
production of crops, livestock management etc., along with normal domestic
chores. Despite expanding role of women in agricultural sector, extension
services in Pakistan are limited to men than women. Women work in agriculture
in all parts of the world. Women agricultural works covers the production,
processing, preparation, making, packing and preserving of food stuff and other
farm products.
According to FAO (1995b), women play their dynamic role along with men in
world’s feeding , the reason is that , in many societies particularly rural
women as farmer are sole responsible for production of crops and they are
fulfilling their roles actively to compete the accelerating pace of world.
In Pakistan
they perform many roles e.g mothers, household laborers, and as social
production workers. In many cases both men and women play complementary roles,
they share and divide tasks in crop, livestock, fishing and forests rising.
However in other cases, they have different responsibilities in same above
mentioned fields. As paid or unpaid
labor, women are heavily involved in subsistence crop production and few
activities related to cash crop production. Although there are no ambiguous
women’s crops as right exist in some countries of the world, a gender division
of labor is experiential in the farming systems of the region based on the
nature of the agricultural enterprise itself, and on the operation process,
consequently, (men are involved in capital intensive mechanized crops and
operations (mechanical preparation, irrigation , spraying , mechanical
harvesting, tractor- driving, etc), while women are responsible for the more
labor-intensive work that requires painstaking physical effort, patience and perseverance.
Thus, women are their hands or single tools to broadcast seeds and fertilizers,
hand weed and harvest, pick fruit and vegetables manually. (Pakistan Research Repository, Identification and
Analysis of Factors Hampering Women Empowerment in Agricultural Decision Making and Extension Work- Pakistan Department of Agricultural Extension / University of Agriculture Faisalabad
THESIS)
WOMEN IN
THE INDUSTRIAL/MANUFACTURING SECTOR
The manufacturing sector represents 13% of Pakistan’s overall labour
force and 25.98% of non-agricultural labour force. Women workers represent only 12.1% of this
labour force a further small sector comprises of mining and quarrying (0.30 of
the non-agricultural force) Women are only 6.7% of this force. They are limited by legislation prohibiting the employment of women in
underground activities and are largely to be found in the over ground support
staff of mining operations as sorters etc. Women constitute an even smaller percentage of construction
workers (2.2 percent). There is a concentration of
women in the category of textile, weaving apparel and leather industries. One-fifth of the women were found in chemical, petroleum, coal and rubber products
industry.
On the whole this formal labour force is young, single and barely
educated, employed in low security and low paid tasks. Almost one-third of the
work force is aged 16 to 20 years and almost two thirds were 26 years of age.
Unlike the other industries women working in the fisheries were aged 41 to 50
years and 28% of the brick kiln workers were more than 50 years of age. While, the establishment of the First Women’s Bank by the government in
1990 encouraged the entry of women into this sector, it
nonetheless stands accused of not creating an enabling environment to encourage
the participation of women in public life. It has done so first by not fulfilling
its own quota of hiring women in public sector jobs and second by not creating
a broad policy environment that fosters women’s equal opportunity. (*2)
PROBLEMS FACED BY WOMEN IN THE INDUSTRIAL
SECTOR: On the basis of gender biasness, male is provided
with various privileges offered in the form of socio-cultural norms, values,
customs, traditions and so forth, while female caters the needs of society in
terms of facilitating male members but despite that she is neglected and
discriminated in all terms. Male chauvinistic society does not highlight the
contribution made by female gender. Most
importantly, if unfortunately she earns a degree and gets a chance to do paid
work, then she faces many challenges in the shape of harassment starts from her
departure to home, and completes till her arrival at home. Harassment at
workplace is very common issue, she confronts with. People also make different
stories against her and her parents.
(*2) See the Report of the Commission of
Inquiry for Women: Pakistan. August 1997. Islamabad: Government of Pakistan,
and also see National Commission on the Status of Women, 2003, Inquiry into the
Status of Women in Public Sector Organizations. Islamabad: Government of
Pakistan.
WOMEN IN
THE TERTIARY/COTTAGE INDUSTRY
The small-scale industry of Pakistan
(also known as tertiary or cottage industry) is the largest employer in the
manufacturing sector. It is labour-intensive, employing about 81 per cent of
the total labour force. It is a disappointing fact that there are few
statistics available about the small and cottage industries, with a majority
being of the informal variety, disorganized and unregulated.
The
reason for separating this section from the industrial sector is due to its
unique significance in terms of the number of women employed in this industry. Home-based business or cottage industry products in Pakistan
range from incense sticks, bangle decorations to women’s and children’s
apparel. They also cover carpet making, fruit cleaning, prawn peeling and
packing, box making, pottery and stitching jute/gunny bags. These are major
sources of income among a large number of Pakistan’s poor. According to various estimates, over 20 million Pakistani women are
engaged in home-based work in garment, embellishment, bangle-making, shoe
stitching, embroidery, carpet weaving, jewelry, leather products, steel
scissors, mobile covers, preparing dry fruit and shelling prawns. Much of their
work is tedious, but in their embroidery reveals their capacity for creativity.
They create masterpieces. While economic conditions compel women to work in
their homes in order to meet day-to-day expenses, they earn between Rs 10- Rs
50 (less than one dollar) a day and put in 12-16 hours. (Women’s Contribution in the Economy, Pakistan Institute of
Development Economics, 2001)
Large
manufacturers contract their work out to middlemen, who get it done, often
under a piecemeal arrangement, by these informal labourers. Unlike those
working in the formal economy, whose activities are monitored and taxed by the
government, the informal sector does not belong to the category of ‘workers’. According to the Pakistan
Labour Force Survey of 2007-2008, the informal sector accounts for more
than 73 percent of the total employment.
The government of Pakistan
has not developed any social or economic policy or program for home-based women
workers. According to the constitution
of Pakistan, women are guaranteed rights to enter into any business, but
when we review the labor laws, we find there is not even a single applicable
one. Home-based workers are not covered
by the definition of a worker under the Payment of Wages Act, 1936, West
Pakistan Shops and Establishment Act, 1969, Industrial Relations Ordinance, 1969 and the Maternity Benefits Ordinance, 1958 and Employees Old Age Benefit act.
The Home Based Work Convention 1996 (C-177), was adopted by ILO in June 1996. This Convention recognized the importance of home-based workers, their contribution to the global economy and the need to protect their rights as workers, but the convention has not yet been ratified by Pakistan. (Why home-based women workers need social protection urgently By Bushra Khaliq April 26, 2011 the writer is National Coordinator, World March of Women, in Pakistan)
The Home Based Work Convention 1996 (C-177), was adopted by ILO in June 1996. This Convention recognized the importance of home-based workers, their contribution to the global economy and the need to protect their rights as workers, but the convention has not yet been ratified by Pakistan. (Why home-based women workers need social protection urgently By Bushra Khaliq April 26, 2011 the writer is National Coordinator, World March of Women, in Pakistan)
WOMEN AS HOUSE MAIDS AND BABY SITTERS
Women that are unskilled and never managed to attend school and are
usually bread winners for their families tend to work as house maids or baby
sitters in the posh areas of Pakistan. Although they are not counted as workers
but they do come up to the definition of a ‘labourer’ as they go through
physical toil while cleaning dishes, washing clothes, sweeping the floor and managing
the domestic affairs for professional working women. Usually the wages are low
are women work in more in two or three houses in order to earn their living.
Women also sometimes take care of small babies in the absence of their parents
and with the advent of day care centers such women are also hired over there.
There are no proper channels to provide guidance to such women and
usually their self-esteem is at risk while working for others. Quite often they
are sexually harassed at offices and other places where they work.
HINDRANCES FOR WOMEN LABOURERS IN ALL THE
FOUR AREAS DISCUSSED ABOVE
·
Cultural
values
·
Status
quo
·
Traditional
belief system
·
Less
availability of time
·
Male
dominant society
·
Lack
of positive response from family members
Economic constraints
·
Lack
of Access to credit
·
Lack
of mobility
·
Scarcity
of income generating opportunities
Technical Constraints
·
Lack
of technical information
·
Lack
of access to new technologies
·
Illiteracy
·
Traditional
agricultural farming
·
Lack
of subject matter specialist for rural
·
Lack
of female extension agents
Political Constraints
·
Low
participation
·
Lack
of access to political power
·
Male
dominancy in political affairs
·
Discouraging
socio-cultural changes
·
Lack
of negotiation power, for entitlement rights
POLICIES AND ACTION PLANS IN TERMS OF LABOUR
IN PAKISTAN
Ø The 2002
published Labour Policy renews its commitment to improve the status and
wages of women in the labour force by providing equal employment opportunities
for women and men. Care of women empowerment is also being taken in Labour
Policy being prepared.
Ø Pakistan’s Decent Work Country Program (DWCP) spells out the main strategy and
plan of action to promote the creation of decent work with gender equality as a
cross cutting theme.
Ø Ministry of Labour and Manpower through its
one of the Departments “Directorate of
Workers Education” launched a nationwide programme for Gender
Sensitization. Under this programme 35000 persons including Employers, Trade
Union Leaders and Industrial Workers were sensitized.
Ø Another programme was also launched for Capacity Building of Labour/Peasant
Councillors. Participants from each District, Tehsil and Union Council
attended the training programme. 19400 Labour/Peasant Councillors were trained
more than 50% were female.
Ø Annually 2000 women are getting free of cost
training in computer skills in Worker
Education Center located at different cities. In 2000 a National Commission on Status of Women (NCSW) has been
established to examine existing policies, programmes and other initiatives
taken by the government that promote women’s development and gender equality.
To access the effectiveness of such policies and programmes the NCSW reviews
laws, rules and regulations that particularly affect the status and rights of
women. Moreover, it suggests necessary repeals, amendments or new legislations
essential to eliminate gender discrimination in the country. Thus, interaction
and dialogue with non- governmental organizations, experts and individuals are
important features of the NCSW as well as its mandate to collaborate with similar
commissions and institutions in and outside the country to achieve gender
equality and development at national, regional and international level. (*3)
(*3)
Government of Pakistan (GoP), 2002, National Policy for Development and
Empowerment of Women, Ministry of Women’s Development, Social Welfare and
Special Education, Islamabad
Ø The Labour
Protection Policy from 2006 acknowledges that gender equality and
non-discrimination of women and men are basic human rights that need to be
protected. It states that the government of Pakistan is committed to the
implementation of the ILO Conventions on gender equality.
Ø Following up on Beijing Declaration and
Platform of Action from September 1998 that aims to ensure that gender
perspectives are reflected in all national policies and programmes, Pakistan
adopted its National Plan of Action for
Women. The plan considers women as “vital contributors to the economic
survival of poor households”, and recognized the double burden of productive
and household chores. The Plan envisages that economic empowerment of women
promotes women’s economic image in the family, community and nation. It aims to
facilitate women’s participation in all areas of life besides ensuring
protection of women’s rights within the family and the society.
CONCLUSION
Rural women contribute to socio-economic development in three major
ways; through the community and nation, at the household level and through the
future generation. At the national and community level rural women are a source
of labour, their own as well as new additions to the labour force. They are
producers of marketed and non-marketed output, much of which is not accounted
for in conventional national accounts, and source of savings and accumulation;
they are often better savers than men. They are the vital link between the
present and the future, between production and consumption, between savings and
investment and between poverty alleviation and environmentally sustainable
growth.
(Encyclopaedia of Women in South Asia: Pakistan By
Bachchan Kumar)
Poor rural women should not be treated merely as “target”
groups of social welfare programmes; rather they are the products and services
of the poor. The rural poor suffer from a significant gap between their
potential and actual productivity, and the productivity gap of poor rural women
is much wider than that of poor rural men. Rural women will gain proportionally
more if investment allocations and development efforts are shifted in their
favour; they can go from a situation of being triply disadvantaged to one in
which their contribution will have multiplier effect, in the household, in the
community, nationally and most important of all, in the future generation. The
status of poor rural women has to be assessed economically, socially and
culturally. There is a need to change the mindset of the people about working
women and ensure that they are respected. Now, with the devolution of the labor ministry to the provinces,
it is the responsibility of the provincial government to address these issues. Every
year on May Day and International Women Day, women workers take to roads across
the country to tell the decision-makers that they are workers, and demand that
they be counted and recognized their rights. Women are in no mood to fade away.
They are not asking for charity—like the Benazir Income Support Program—but to
be recognized as workers under labor laws. Recognize them!
REFERENCES:
WEB
RESEARCH
PAPERS/ ARTICLES
3)(Why home-based
women workers need social protection urgently By Bushra Khaliq April 26, 2011 the
writer is National Coordinator, World March of Women, in Pakistan)
4)(Women’s Contribution in the
Economy, Pakistan Institute of Development Economics, 2001)
5)(Pakistan Research
Repository, Identification and Analysis of Factors Hampering Women
Empowerment in Agricultural Decision Making
and Extension Work- Pakistan Department of
Agricultural Extension /
University of Agriculture Faisalabad THESIS)
6)(PAKISTAN EMPLOYMENT TRENDS FOR WOMEN 2009
(SERIES NO.5) April 2009 Labour Market Information and Analysis Unit Ministry
of Labour and Manpower Government of Pakistan ISLAMABAD)
7)WOMEN AND PAID WORK IN PAKISTAN Pathways of Women’s
Empowerment South Asia Research Programme Pakistan Scoping Paper By Ayesha Khan
Collective for Social Science Researc Karachi March 15, 2007
BOOKS:
8)(Encyclopaedia of Women in South Asia: Pakistan By Bachchan Kumar)
9)(Women workers: an annotated
bibliography, 1983-94 By International Labour Office)
WORD COUNT : 3,100 words
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