Determinants of the gender wage gap in Pakistan

It is common perception that in comparison to men, Pakistani women are earning less. This paper fulfills the identified need to study why there exists gender wage gap in Pakistan. The present study attempted to analyze the existence of wage differentials in Pakistan using data of Pakistan’s Labour Force Survey (LFS) 2020–21 and estimated the ordered logit model. It has been found that gender, age, education level, location of work, marital status, additional benefits, and kind of employment play a significant role in determining wages in Pakistan. It has also been found that women earnings are lower than men and this disparity has increased with the passage of time. The most imperative reason of gender wage difference is women’s involvement in low-earning jobs. The findings are useful in devising policy measures for women empowerment and gender wage gap analysis.