LAHORE: Although women the world over are paid 79 cents for every dollar paid to men, the situation is more grim in Pakistan, though, some educated women are paid better.
The gender pay gap in Pakistan is driven at least in part by the cumulative impact of many instances over the course of women’s lives, when they are treated differently than their male peers. Parental influence is the key, as parents expect their sons, rather than their daughters, to work in science, technology, engineering, or mathematics.
Developed economies are rapidly narrowing the gender wage gap but in developing economies like Pakistan, where informality is very high, it is an uphill task to reduce this gap. In formal sector, it is mandatory to give minimum wage.
Thus all start ups, whether women or men, get the same minimum pay on their first job. However, as they gain experience, the men with the similar level of experience, overtake the women in salary and status.
Unfortunately, the majority of jobs are provided by the informal sector, where government regulations on minimum wage are not followed. In the informal sector, even the men get much lower than minimum wage, while the women are paid even less. It is no surprise that the majority of workers in Pakistan are in the informal sector where timing can be flexible.
Many jobs that are performed by both women and men in developed countries are reserved only for men in Pakistan. Job of a travelling salesman often goes to men because women cannot travel outside due to social taboos.
The gender bias is so extreme in our country that even in garment and knitwear industries most of the workers are men. On the other hand, in India, Bangladesh and Vietnam, 90 percent of the workers are women.
Informal women workers exceed men also because they perform the work outsourced to them from their home. This enables them to perform their unpaid household responsibilities. These women are given very low amount for their work.
If one looks at the time housewives spend on paid and unpaid work per hour, wages drop further. Even before they enter labour market, women are perceived as inferior labour than men. Moreover, structural bias ensures that women get fewer resources for education, training and access to capital.
The formal workers dominated by men enjoy some social protection, but women workers, majority of whom are employed in the informal sectors, do not have any legal or social protection. These include agricultural workers, rag-pickers, construction workers, home-based workers, domestic workers or helps, street vendors or sellers, and part-time workers.
Informal work flourishes as it suits employers whether small, medium or large, including multinational corporations as they benefit from the informal nature of work. Employers, in their obsession to cut production costs, cut labour costs as wages are an important element of production costs. This way they also save other labour costs like insurance, benefits, health costs, and social security and employees’ old age benefits.
Through informal employment, the employers are able to exercise control over the workforce. Informal workers have very little bargaining power, moreover, informal work also weakens the power of workers involved in formal work. Informal workers are denied a social and political environment where their basic human rights are respected and guaranteed.
