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Begin New Search Topic Informal Economy Political Geography South Asia Content Type Commentary and Analysis Publishing Institution Urban Institute Publication Year within 10 Years

1. Three strategies for empowering women in informal economies

Author:
Ammar A. Malik and Hadia Majid
Publication Date:
06-2017
Content Type:
Commentary and Analysis
Institution:
Urban Institute
Abstract:
Pakistan is the sixth most populated country in the world, and at least two in five Pakistanis will live in urban areas by 2020. But, as in the rest of South Asia, rapid urbanization in Pakistan is “messy” and hidden. A large-scale informal economy and poor public service delivery is dampening the potential productivity benefits of agglomeration. Seventy-eight percent of nationwide nonagricultural jobs are in the informal economy, and some 22 million people are in such roles, most of them women. Most of an estimated 8.5 million mostly unregulated domestic workers are also women. Underdeveloped and unenforced work regulations make women disproportionately more susceptible to exploitive working conditions. They are poorly compensated and forced to work in hazardous circumstances without proper social or legal protections. Beyond the ambit of taxation, they are seldom considered productive economic agents and are relegated as secondary contributors to the economy. These issues with urbanization and informal economies are not unique to Pakistan. All South Asian countries have similar problems. But overall gender disparities in Pakistan are considerably higher than the regional average, and the fact that more women are poor than men poses a particular challenge for women in Pakistan’s urban informal sector.
Topic:
Gender Issues, Urbanization, Women, Economy, and Informal Economy
Political Geography:
Pakistan and South Asia

2. Without improved public service delivery, women in developing countries can’t take advantage of economic opportunity

Author:
Ammar A. Malik and Jasmina Pless
Publication Date:
02-2016
Content Type:
Commentary and Analysis
Institution:
Urban Institute
Abstract:
An estimated 1.5 billion people live on less than $1 per day—the majority of whom are women. The “the feminization of poverty,” the worldwide gap between women and men trapped in poverty, has grown during the past decade. As developing countries continue to urbanize, uneven access to public services prevents women from taking full advantage of the newly available economic opportunities. Despite women’s improved overall labor force participation, they often end up with lower paying, precarious jobs—often in the informal economy. In Pakistan for instance, three-quarters of women engaged in non-agriculture jobs work in the informal economy without laws or public policies to protect them. That’s an estimated 8.5 million domestic workers. Governments typically clamp down on informal establishments by shutting them down or simply ignore their existence. The lack of appropriate legal or regulatory systems further increases women’s vulnerability to exploitation through low wages or lack of employment protections. Women are seldom viewed as productive economic agents as they are outside the tax net.
Topic:
Development, Women, Economic Growth, and Informal Economy
Political Geography:
Pakistan and South Asia

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