The Factors Affecting Participation of Married Women in the Labor Force in Lahore, Pakistan.

Abstract

The study investigates the various social economic factors that affect the decision of married women to participate in the labor force. This study is based on primary data collected from Lahore through self-administered questionnaires and field interviews. The sample of the study was 350 ever-married women from Lahore, Pakistan. The logit model was used to estimate results. The results showed that women’s education, age, education of husband, family size, and family support are significantly related to the participation of married women in the labor force. As a woman’s education and age increase by one year, it increases the probability of her participation in the labor force by 0.0221 and 0.0119 respectively. The husband’s education and household size are negatively related to her decision to do paid work. An increase in household members decreases the probability of a married woman’s participation in the labor force by 0.0619; similarly, an increase in a husband’s education by one year decreases the probability of a married woman’s labor force participation (MLFP) by 0.0262. The presence of Family support shows significant results that increase the probability of MLFP by 0.3555. Thus, education and family support play an important role. Education empowers women and increases their role in decision-making. It is recommended more education opportunities and awareness campaigns should be held about gender discrimination and patriarchy that prevails in our society, more job opportunities should be provided both part-time as well as full-time to facilitate women's labor force.