Coming of age in contemporary Pakistan: Influences of gender and poverty

Abstract

Work as a key transition to adulthood in the life of youth has strong implications for the labour market, poor households, and for the youth in shaping their adult lives. If appropriately capitalised, this demographic bonus (25 million youth bulge, aged 15-24), can contribute positively to economic lift-off in Pakistan. Using the national survey "Transition to Adulthood; Education, Work, and Marriage" undertaken by Population Council (2001-02), the paper examines various dimensions of work including the type of work, decisions surrounding work, intentions to work in future, concentrating on exploring the determinants that influence or are likely to influence young people's involvement in work. The majority of youth, specifically young girls, are engaged in traditional farm labour. Considerable proportions of men work throughout the year, while only half of young women do the similar work. Multinomial logistic regressions suggest that work plays out distinctly for young men and women in Pakistan. Overall, increasing age and the lowest socio-economic status amplify the likelihood of getting engaged in work both for males and females even before the age of fifteen. Poverty leads young unmarried women in most cases towards work or seeking work. Maternal literacy reduces the chances of youth getting into work; mostly the remuneration of work (by unmarried rural girls) is received by their family, whereas the likelihood of receiving payment by girls rises with educational attainment and socio-economic status. Changing trends in the labour market demand changes in existing technical training to augment additional marketable skills, and training opportunities particularly for young women, enabling them to make effective use of their potential in the labour market. Concurrently greater awareness through media needs to be created so that young women may enter occupations other than conventional ones. A healthy and growing economy is essential for creating more avenues of job. Therefore, youth employment needs to be institutionalised with tiers of government, and initiatives by civil society and NGOs may catalyse and supplement governmental activities.