Pakistan’s economic conditions and experiences of women working in informal service sector: a Marxist feminist approach

Abstract

Informal economy is defined as the economy which is unrecognized from the state and government officials. The jobs in the informal economy are not registered, neither taxed nor given any social protection for example provision of pension, proper wages and labor rights. These jobs provide unsafe environment and hectic schedules with low wages which are not at all beneficial for the employees hence they remain poor. It is observed that mostly women are found to be a part of the informal economy because of the difficulties they face in the jobs of the formal economy. In Pakistan, the jobs in which women are found to be involved are usually home-based for example handicrafts and stitching. The problem arises when these women with no knowledge of the market wages are exploited at cheap labor by the contractors. This exploitation was criticized by the Marxist Feminist approach which claimed that because of Capitalism and profit maximization, women are degraded to a secondary element of labor who are only provided with jobs when needed and at lower wages than the opposite gender. Patriarchy also serves as a contributing factor where market and labor both are male dominated and hence women are subjected to exploitative patterns of employment. Women working in informal service sector of Pakistan contribute significantly to the overall economic trajectory, but their work remains unnoticed and unrecognized. Formalizing the informal sector is a mountain to climb because of the contrasting nature of both the sectors.