Pakistan’s Gender Gap Is Not a Talent Gap: Women Still Lack Access to Work, Property and Power

A development challenge measured in lost opportunity

Pakistan’s gender gap is visible in classrooms, workplaces, political parties, public institutions and family property records. Women have made gains in education and formal representation, yet many cannot turn those gains into secure work, control over assets or authority over public decisions. The result is a constraint on both individual lives and the country’s economic and institutional capacity.

In Pakistan’s 2024–25 Household Integrated Economic Survey, literacy among people aged 10 and older stood at 63 percent. The rate was 73 percent for men and 54 percent for women. The divide is wider between rural and urban women: 44 percent of rural women were literate, compared with 68 percent of urban women. Literacy affects more than the ability to read. It can shape whether someone can understand a contract, use a digital service, claim a benefit or act on a disaster warning.

Women’s economic participation is lower still. World Bank gender data put female labour force participation at 24 percent in 2025, compared with 80.1 percent for men. This measure counts people who are working or actively seeking work. It does not capture the full economic value of unpaid household labour, and surveys may miss some informal work. Yet research using Pakistan’s time-use data suggests undercounting alone cannot explain the low share of women working outside the home, where many better-paid jobs are found.

The disparity is not simply a question of whether women have skills. It reflects the conditions under which they can use them: care duties, mobility and safety, low wages, restricted access to finance and property, and expectations about which work is acceptable. These conditions also help explain why greater education does not automatically bring greater economic independence or influence.

Why do education and employment diverge?

Pakistan’s education indicators have improved, including at tertiary level, but employment has not kept pace. A 2026 World Economic Forum report cited in the research materials places Pakistan 143rd of 145 economies in its Global Gender Gap Index and 144th in economic participation and opportunity. The same report records a substantial improvement in educational attainment parity. The contrast points to a difficult transition: completing education does not guarantee a job that is accessible, adequately paid or socially accepted.

Accounts from women and families illustrate how poor working conditions can weaken the incentive to enter the labour market. In one reported case, two sisters with university degrees in mathematics were teaching at a school for 15,000 rupees each per month. An education expert described women teachers in another Punjab city receiving as little as 4,500 rupees a month, sometimes after delays of two months. Such wages can make travel, childcare and the social cost of working outside the home harder to justify.

These experiences sit alongside wider evidence of unequal pay. Research cited in the supplied labour-market analysis estimates that women earn about 72 percent of men’s wages, including among workers with similar education and in comparable occupations. Harassment at work and during commutes, limited public transport and employers’ poor practices can further narrow choices. One reported concern is that some private schools retain teachers’ original qualifications, making it harder for them to leave for better jobs.

Social norms shape both the demand for women’s labour and women’s ability to accept available work. Women may face scrutiny over using phones, travelling independently or working in jobs that involve regular contact with men. The result can be a narrower set of acceptable occupations, even for graduates. Where wages are low and job security weak, families may see little benefit in confronting those pressures.

Unpaid care limits time and choices

Women’s paid work takes place alongside a large, uneven share of unpaid domestic and care responsibilities. UN Women data cited in the original material say women and girls aged 10 and older spend 19.9 percent of their time on unpaid domestic and care work, compared with 1.8 percent for men. Another analysis describes women spending more than five hours a day on household maintenance and care, while men spend about half an hour. It reports that women gain only 37 minutes of relief from domestic chores when they take paid work.

Care is essential work, but when households and public services assign most of it to women, it limits time for education, paid employment, entrepreneurship and civic participation. A daycare centre can help with one part of the burden, but it does not by itself redistribute cooking, household planning or responsibility for children. Women may still pass up promotions, move to less demanding work or leave jobs altogether.

Pakistan’s 2023 Day Care Centres Act requires establishments with at least 70 employees to provide daycare, while Punjab has offered support to organisations setting up centres. Such measures address a practical barrier, but their effect depends on access, quality and whether employers and families share care responsibilities more fairly. Skills programmes also need links to real jobs, fair wages and career progression. Training alone cannot make an unsafe commute safe or change a hiring system that excludes women.

Women’s employment is also concentrated in less secure parts of the economy. Agriculture accounts for 68 percent of employed women in the original material, while World Bank data put women’s vulnerable employment at 73.2 percent, compared with 50.4 percent for men. Research cited in the labour-force analysis estimates that 78 percent of working women are in the informal sector. In agriculture, 76 percent of women are described as unpaid family workers, and 60 percent of women in paid work across sectors have casual contracts without employment benefits.

These figures help explain why a rise in participation does not necessarily mean a rise in agency. Work can bring income and a stronger voice in household decisions, but unpaid family labour and insecure jobs may leave women without control over earnings, benefits or the ability to plan for the future.

Does political representation bring authority?

Women hold about 21.7 percent of seats in Pakistan’s National Assembly, and UN Women reports 23,852 elected women serving in local bodies, where they make up roughly 16 percent of members of local deliberative bodies. Reserved seats have helped sustain women’s presence in legislatures. Their history also shows that representation has not grown steadily on its own.

Pakistan initially reserved 10 seats for women in the federal legislature for 10 years, expecting political inclusion to become established. When the provision expired, women’s representation fell sharply. The Legal Framework Order of 2002 restored 60 reserved seats in the National Assembly, a measure that remains in place. Women elected from general seats remain comparatively few, leaving representation partly dependent on reserved places rather than equal access to constituency politics.

Women’s presence within party leadership is lower still. An analysis by the Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) of intra-party election certificates on the Election Commission of Pakistan website found that only 7 percent of more than 3,100 office-bearers elected by 138 parties between 2018 and 2025 were women. Seventy-three parties had no woman office-bearer. Certificates were available for 138 of 167 enlisted parties, so the figures describe the records that could be reviewed, not necessarily every party’s current structure.

The Elections Act, 2017 requires political parties to publish and submit information on their central office-bearers and executive committees. It also includes measures intended to support women’s participation, including a requirement that parties nominate women for at least 5 percent of general-seat candidates. A legal minimum can create an entry point, but party control over candidate selection, internal leadership and resources affects whether women can build influence beyond compliance with the rule.

Women also remain scarce in senior public institutions. A National Assembly gender-mainstreaming committee reported in 2025 that women made up 0.93 percent of personnel in the law, civil armed forces and Interior Division, and 5 percent of vice-chancellors at general universities. An Establishment Division census found women accounted for 5.23 percent of federal civil servants; among female civil servants, 26.06 percent were in grades 17 to 22. That census is old and should be treated as a benchmark, not a current headcount, but it points to the depth of the challenge in recruiting and advancing women into senior roles.

Legal ownership can stop short of control

Women’s economic position also depends on whether they can own and control assets. A Sustainable Development Policy Institute study cited in the supplied reporting found that only about 2 percent of ever-married women aged 15 to 49 owned land, alone or jointly, while 67 percent of employed women worked in agriculture. Some 97.2 percent of women surveyed said they had never inherited land or a house. The contrast is stark: many women work on land without holding a share in it.

Farheen Bibi, a woman from Mianwali district, was recorded as a nominal owner of her late father’s property three years after his death. She never obtained possession or income from the land. After her brothers refused to give her a share, she stopped raising the issue and did not approach a court. Another woman, Ambreen Fatima, said she avoided asking her brothers about her inheritance because she feared being judged for disrupting family relationships.

These accounts illustrate the gap between a legal entitlement and practical control. Women may face pressure to preserve family harmony, lack independent income to pursue a claim, or have difficulty navigating land records and courts. A 2024 study of 12 landed households in Punjab found that women could have formal ownership or access to land yet have limited influence over cultivation, crop sales and income. Legal recognition is a first step; possession, decision-making power and a share of the proceeds determine whether it brings material independence.

The distinction matters for women working in agriculture and for their families. Without secure rights to land, women may have less collateral for loans, less bargaining power over household resources and fewer options when a marriage or family relationship changes. Enforcing inheritance rights therefore requires accessible legal support and effective revenue administration, as well as formal rules.

Can the digital economy include women?

Technology and artificial intelligence are becoming more central to Pakistan’s exports, employment and public services, yet women remain underrepresented in the technology workforce. Estimates vary: earlier Pakistan Software Houses Association research put women at about 14 percent of the IT workforce and 13 percent of IT managers, while more recent sector analysis estimates women’s representation at around 17 percent. The studies are not current comprehensive headcounts, but both point to a substantial gap, especially in management.

Barriers include limited access to mentors and professional networks, caregiving responsibilities, difficulty returning after a career break, and unequal access to finance and customers for women founders. The digital divide also extends beyond whether someone can connect to the internet. GSMA data cited in the technology analysis say women’s mobile internet use rose from 33 percent in 2023 to 45 percent in 2024, bringing around eight million women online. Yet 35 percent of female mobile internet users accessed the internet exclusively through someone else’s phone, compared with 6 percent of male users. Shared access can limit privacy, reliability and the time available to study or work.

For an AI economy, that distinction has consequences. Women need opportunities to build and shape technology as developers, researchers, designers, entrepreneurs and policymakers, not only to use products designed by others. If the workforce excludes a large share of the population, the country loses skills and firms draw from a narrower talent pool. Initiatives such as Women Tech Quest, launched by 10Pearls in 2017, have brought women into competitions and professional networks; the company reports that more than 70 participants later joined it. Such programmes can open doors, though their reach should sit alongside changes in hiring, promotion, workplace flexibility and access to capital.

Climate resilience depends on inclusion

Women’s participation has particular weight in a country facing climate stress. The World Bank estimates that climate risks, environmental degradation and air pollution could reduce Pakistan’s GDP by at least 18 to 20 percent by 2050. Women often manage household water, food and energy needs, yet can have less access to land, finance, transport and the institutions that plan for disasters or allocate adaptation budgets.

That imbalance can make households less prepared for floods, extreme heat, water shortages, food insecurity and displacement. Women’s knowledge of household and community needs can improve plans, while their authority over budgets and resources can help ensure assistance reaches people who need it. Inviting women to a consultation is not the same as giving them influence over decisions.

Pakistan’s development response can be judged by more than enrolment rates, training certificates or seats occupied. It can also track whether women earn and control income, hold secure jobs, own and manage property, lead departments and companies, shape political party decisions and help set climate priorities. Better gender-disaggregated data would make it easier to see where women enter institutions and where they disappear from the path to leadership.

The Bottom Line

• Female labour force participation was 24 percent in 2025, far below the rate for men.
• Women perform a much larger share of unpaid care work and are concentrated in vulnerable jobs and agriculture.
• Women hold about 21.7 percent of National Assembly seats, but only 7 percent of party office-bearers reviewed in available election records were women.
• Legal inheritance rights do not always translate into possession, control or income from property.
• Women’s access to digital tools, secure work and senior roles will affect Pakistan’s ability to build its technology economy and respond to climate risks.