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In the informal economy, the female workers of Akistan have formed the backbone of their communities, yet their contributions have been systematically excluded from global gender studies.
The World Gender GAP report 2025 is once again close to Pakistan, highlighting the permanent differences in education, economic participation, health and political representation. This report creates headlines and spectacular policy debates every year, but continues to ignore an important fact: Pakistani women who are strengthening the informal economy are not merely counted.
According to the National Labor Force estimates and development survey, more than 70 % of the working women in Pakistan are engaged in agriculture, livestock care, home -based production or informal services. Most of these wages are not recognized by non -documentary and formal economic systems, which keeps these women hidden in the data used for global indicators.
Since the gender gap report relies on the formal indicators of the job, such as the participation of the Labor Force, the equality of wages and income levels, such as it inadvertently ignores millions of women whose wages maintain families and communities without being offered in official statistics.
Only in Sindh, women play a vital role in small -scale farming, livestock raising, crafts and waste. Their contributions are essential for rural and low -income urban families, yet they are still absent from mainstream labor survey, wages and productive measurements.
The national budget speech of 2024 indicated a progress by nominating the informal economy as a national priority. It was a promising commitment to recognize this shadow labor force, especially women. Nevertheless, this year’s gender difference reports raise serious concerns with the absence of informal labor data: either policy efforts have been stopped, or they have failed to produce measurements.
This disconnection between promises and actions is something that many gender supporters have long been observed. Sarah Zaman, a development practitioner, reflects, “It was disappointing to look at Pakistan’s ranking in the 2025 report. I recalled that the 2024 budget preferred to document the informal economy. This is a move in which women’s labor is expected to recognize the current, and the current methods of decorating the gender-based data. Reflect
She notes that this problem is far more complicated than formal documents. “It is important to understand the difference between the informal economy and the care economy-the differences are in place where they meet. Pakistan’s economy is not only a large-scale informal or non-documentary. Women’s non-documentary, home-based compensation work is widespread for women, no more for women. Complex.
Continuous exclusion of informal female workers from global indicators is not merely an error – it deepens inequality by eliminating millions of live experiences. Without accurate data, policies fail to reach excessively. Social reservations are beyond access, financial services lose their mark and development programs decrease.
Yasmin Kapri, who has worked with female craftsmen for more than two decades, offers an important theory from the ground. It itself has observed how thousands of women, especially in Sindh and southern Punjab, maintain their family through embroidery, made, mirror work, rally and stitched crafts.
“For more than 20 years, I have been working with women craftsmen from rural and semi -urban areas. They have a lot of skills and they play a significant role in domestic income. From Tharparkar to making crafts to multi -women and girls, they are never counted as a ‘helpful’.
She notes that when digital platforms brought new hope after Covade 19, she also exposed a new division. “Since pandemic illness, many women have started selling their products online-through the WhatsApp, Instagram or local markets. But no government-led data system has been supported to recognize this change. There is no directory, no registration, no mechanism.
Kapri has emphasized that ignoring this class not only hurts Pakistan’s gender image internationally, but also denies real women to credit, skills support and access to protection, “This is not just about global ranking. What happens on the ground for women, if they are facing women’s economic and social contributions. The progress of the country will be incomplete and in fact, in order to empower economic empowerment.
Among the challenges, there is room for hope. In the case of gender legislation, Pakistan’s most progressive province, Sindh, has enforced two important laws: Sindh Home -based Workers Act (2018) and Sindh Women’s Agricultural Workers Act (2019). If it is effectively implemented, they can enable thousands of women registration in the informal sector, providing access to legal rights, social concerns and access to the national data system. These reforms can also ensure that future global reports reflect more accurately women’s actual contribution.
Continuous exclusion of informal female workers from global indicators is not merely an error – it deepens inequality by eliminating millions of live experiences. Without accurate data, policies fail to reach excessively. Social reservations are beyond access, financial services lose their mark and development programs decrease.
Recognizing women’s informal wages is not just about improving Pakistan’s status in the global rankings. It is about justice, involvement and equity. These women deserve not just by system, not to be viewed, counting and valuable, but also helps to maintain through the nation.
Since Pakistan moves towards a more comprehensive development agenda, a recognition of women’s hidden labor should be the first step – not only to shut down the gender gap in the reports, but also to change the lives behind these numbers.
The author is a gender and development professional. This can be reached to the email: Sanakhazanzada 4@gmail.com, Linwind in www.linkedin.com/in/sana-sadique-6290a9177 and x https://x.com/sanasrahimo?s=21.
