Population Council Research that makes a difference

Roughly 50 percent of all females ages 15–24 have ever enrolled in school. Furthermore, those who do attend are more likely to drop out at a younger age than their male counterparts. The pattern of low enrollment is magnified among the poorest Pakistani youth. However, almost all young people report ambitions for achieving higher educational levels than those attained by their parents. In addition, young men and women, particularly those who are not in school, spend their time very differently.

While most young men eventually enter the paid labor force outside the home, less than 40 percent of young women have entered the workforce by age 24. Females are most likely to work inside the home on domestic chores. The gap between the onset of puberty and the timing of marriage for females and males is growing as a result of an increasing age of marriage. For females, however, there is little substantive, skills-enhancing activity to fill this growing gap. The data from this report continue to provide material for further research studies.

Drawing on data from the national survey, recent in-depth research has focused on the very different experiences of boys and girls growing up today in Pakistan. The results of the analysis confirm the fundamental importance of schooling to transitions to adulthood. Those without any schooling, which still include 15 percent of young men and 46 percent of young women, assume the work burdens of adults prematurely and are deprived of the opportunity of learning in an institutional setting outside the family. Those who do attend school eventually take up gender-stereotyped roles; however, they do so with some delay, allowing them to experience a longer transition to adulthood. For both males and females, there appears to be a large lag in years between the assumption of adult work roles—whether in the domestic setting or in the labor market—and the assumption of adult family roles as marked by the timing of first marriage.

Recent further delays in the timing of first marriage for young women have been accompanied by a rise in the percent working for pay during the later adolescent years; a similar trend is not apparent for young men. A multivariate analysis of some of the factors associated with variations in daily work hours among young people demonstrates the potential for change created by opportunities for higher levels of schooling, vocational training, and formal-sector jobs. The nature of current opportunities available for young people, however, appears to reinforce traditional gender role stereotypes.

Culture of silence: A brief on reproductive health of adolescents and youth in Pakistan (PDF) 
Sultana,Munawar
brief based on Adolescents and Youth in Pakistan 2001-02: A Nationally Representative Survey
Publication date: 2005


Discrimination starts at home: A brief on parents' aspirations for adolescents and youth in Pakistan (PDF) 
ul Haque,Minhaj
brief based on Adolescents and Youth in Pakistan 2001-02: A Nationally Representative Survey
Publication date: 2005


Growing up in Pakistan: The separate experiences of males and females 
Lloyd,Cynthia B.; Grant,Monica J.; Behrman,Jere R.; Stromquist,Nelly P.; Cohen,Barney
from The Changing Transitions to Adulthood in Developing Countries: Selected Studies, pp. 320-366
Publication date: 2005


The poverty trap: Leveling the playing field for young people (PDF) 
Faizunnissa,Azeema
brief based on Adolescents and Youth in Pakistan 2001-02: A Nationally Representative Survey
Publication date: 2005


Two worlds under the same roof: A brief on gender difference in transitions to adulthood (PDF) 
Sultana,Munawar
brief based on Adolescents and Youth in Pakistan 2001-02: A Nationally Representative Survey
Publication date: 2005


Growing up in Pakistan: The separate experiences of males and females (PDF) 
Lloyd,Cynthia B.; Grant,Monica J.
Policy Research Division Working Paper (no. 188)
Publication date: 2004


Adolescents and Youth in Pakistan 2001-2002: A Nationally Representative Survey (PDF) 
Sathar,Zeba A.; ul Haque,Minhaj; Faizunnissa,Azeema; Sultana,Munawar; Lloyd,Cynthia B.; Diers,Judith A.; Grant,Monica J.
Publication date: 2003