Islamabad
Around 74 percent of women’s labor force is engaged in domestic work in which 29.1 percent of women are unpaid domestic workers aged between 15-64 in rural and urban areas of the Punjab.
It was revealed here Sunday in a survey conducted by the Punjab Commission on Status of Women (PCSW) that the average number of hours spent on unpaid work by women aged 15-64 years was 4.9 hours, however in rural areas, the number of hours increase to 6.7 in contrast to 2 hours in the urban areas.
The highest average number of hours spent on unpaid work was done currently by the married women and this was more than the average of widowed, divorced and separated and never married women. Report further said that presently there was no such mechanism to address their issues therefore they have to face plenty of challenges including the major issue of unpaid work.
74 per cent of the labour work force is engaged in the informal sector, while domestic workers are the biggest chunk and 50 percent are females, it added.
Report claimed that working in a private home presents serious dangers to the health and safety of such workers and private homes were not safe havens for domestic workers. Although many bills has been tabled regarding their laws but no implementation has been done to protect their rights, it added.
Report stressed that there should be regulatory body to resolve their issues to empower them economically and socially. PCSW undertook a set of survey for the project ‘Generating Data to Advance Women’s Economic and Social well-being in Pakistan“. PCSW is a special institution of the women for promotion of women’s rights and empowerment of women.—Agencies
