Dynamics of Female Labor Force Participation in Pakistan

Abstract

The centrality of Labor force in economic development of a country is unquestionable. Women constitute more than half of population of Pakistan but their labor market participation is exceedingly low. The Pakistan Labor Force Survey 2014-15, reports females’ labor force participation rate in Pakistan as 22%, a very low in comparison of various countries in the South Asian region. The decision of females to participate in labor market is complex as it depends on personal and family factors vis-a-vis labor market conditions. Hence the present study focused to analyze the inherent determinants of females’ labor force participation in Pakistan, using the Labor Force Survey data of year 2014-15 and Logit model. The outcomes of the study indicated that female’s education level and their household employment status had positive significant impact on females’ probability to participate in labor market. Factors including marital status, household income, area of residence, number of children, household head education level appeared to be negatively related with females’ labor force participation. Age appeared to show inverted U-shape relation with females’ labor force participation while province also has significant impact on their participation in labor market. The study ended up with recommendations to uplift the females’ labor market participation.