By Haroon Baloch R.I. Khan: Women hand-stitching quilt One would think that the number of women in the Pakistani workforce is growing as economic pressures mount and double income families become the norm. However, the actual figures are surprisingly low. As yet, only 15.76 percent of the women have been allowed to take part in the socio-economic uplift of the country even though women constitute more or less 50 percent of the total population. Further, the women who are included in the workforce remain underpaid. According to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, the average monthly working wage for women in Pakistan is slightly over 8,000 rupees as against the minimum wage notified by the government which stands at 13,000 rupees per month. In the developed world, women are playing a crucial role in socio-economic development. Countries like Finland, Denmark, Sweden, Canada, France, Russia, Ireland, Portugal, Ukraine, Latvia, Moldova and Estonia are among those where women s...
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