Collective Bargaining, Government Policy and Gender Equality in Bangladesh and Pakistan

Labor PolicyGender Equality

A comparative paper for Copenhagen Business School asking how collective bargaining and government policies have influenced gender equality in the labor markets of Bangladesh and Pakistan, with a focus on their textile and garment sectors.

It compares female labor force participation, unemployment and sector employment through four frameworks: Gendered Political Economy, Social Reproduction Theory, Decent Work, and Gender Equality. It concludes that, despite gradual gains, significant gaps remain, which calls for targeted, robust interventions.

Bangladesh, 2003 to 2016

Women's participation rose ten points, yet never broke 40% while men's held near 80%

~80%Men ~80%26%Women 36%never above 40%

20032016

22.53%

of Pakistan’s workforce is women, most of them confined to agriculture

The paper’s lesson: Bangladesh shows the value of cohesive legal and collective effort; Pakistan, the need for cultural acceptance and enforcement.

Labour force participation as stated in the paper (citing Solotaroff & Kotikula, 2019): women 26% in 2003 and 36% in 2016; men “consistently” about 80%. Only the endpoints are stated in the text, so no intermediate years are drawn. Pakistan figure from GIZ (2018); sector split from Majid et al. (2021).

“Very interesting. … in Pakistan, I would suggest, that you look into the Fisheries sector. The Women workers are 75%, but the disparity in wages is discriminatory. You will get some astounding results, which none of these analysts have bothered to include. So it will be unique to you.”

Shahida Jamil, former Federal Minister for Law and Justice, Pakistan, on this paper