Action Research Social Protection for Women

Home Based Workers in Pakistan

HomeNet PakistanFebruary 22nd, 2006

Sectors Chosen

Garments (expanding)

Weaving (common)

Pottery (poorest)

Localities Chosen In Punjab: District Lahore, District

Sheikhupura, District Nankana and District Kasur

In Balochistan: District Mastoong and District Quetta.

In NWFP : District Charsada, District Kohat, District Lucky Marwat and District Peshawar.

In Sindh : District Hayderabad and District Karachi

Focus Group Discussions 19 FGDs were conducted: In Punjab:16 FGDs (5 garment, 4 weaving & 4 pottery) In Sindh: 3 FGDs (one in each sector)

In NWFP and Balochistan: Women were not allowed to get out of their houses We could not conduct FGD’s.

In-depth Interviews Punjab:165 interviews (50 each sector, 5 each sector with men)

NWFP: 18 (6 in each sector)

Balochistan:18 (6 in each sector)

Sindh:20 (6-7 in sector)

Garment Sector-Punjab Their monthly income varies between 2000-3500 for 8-10 hours of work daily. 60 % of women do piece rate work while 26 % work for the family businesses. 60 % work with contractors while 34 % take the products to the market

themselves. 60 % of women get paid on monthly bases, 32 % on weekly and 4 % on daily

bases. 50 % face difficulties while receiving the payments from the sub contractor.

Some common problems faced:– work irregularity, irregular and low payments– stressful work load– dependence on the middle person– no other work opportunity, lack of knowledge of recent trends, marketing

possibilities etc.– no or little information on social protection schemes– health problems such as poor eye sight, back pain, finger injuries, pain in

arms and legs due to frequent electric shocks and load shedding

Garment Sector-Balochistan

60 % of women are piece rate workers and 40 % are self-employed.

The monthly income changes between 1000-2000

rupees in the lean period, 2000-4000 rupees in the peak period. They work 5-8 hours a day.

Women usually have work every month though the amount changes.

67 % of women face problems in receiving payments such as payments delayed, incomplete, irregular or lesser then the agreed payment.

All of them sell their products to the middleman or a costumer from home and do not have any idea about the market price. None of them keep records of the work and payments.

Contd: Balochistan 33 % do other kinds of home-based work or agricultural

work to meet their expenses. 33 % are not able to save at all. The savings are used to pay back the previous loans.

57 % of the women faced emergency situations like dead or illness in the family. They coped with the situation by either borrowing money or selling personal possessions.

Most of the women are not aware of the social schemes available and none are members of any existing schemes. Moreover none of the family members are members of any social security scheme.

For 84 % of the cases there are welfare organizations working with home-based workers in their neighborhood. Most provide credit and training. 33 % of the women are benefiting form these facilities.

Problems Reported: unhealthy housing, inaccessible credit, untimely

payments, in availability of work, inaccessibility of skill trainings, inaccessibility of health insurance and poor condition of the roads as the major problems they face related to their work.

Garment Sector-NWFP All women are piece rate workers.

They work 6-10 hours a day.

Women usually have work every month though the amount changes. The monthly income changes between 200-2000 rupees in the lean period and 800-3000 rupees in the peak period.

80 % are paid in cash while 20 % are paid in kind. In all cases the payment is done after the task is completed. 40 % of women face problems in receiving payments such as payments delayed, incomplete, irregular or lesser then agreed. Women own the tool of production they are using.

Only 20 % sell directly to costumer and none of them have any idea about the market price. None keep records of the work and payments.

Garment Sector-NWFP 80 % do other works to meet expenses. None of the women

had worked outside their homes before. The women and the family members are not members of any social security scheme.

There are welfare organizations working with home-based workers in their neighborhood. 60 % of the women are benefiting from these facilities.

Women are not aware of any effort to form a union of home-based workers.

Problems reported: unhealthy housing, inaccessible credit, untimely payments,

unavailability of work, inaccessibility of skills trainings, inaccessibility of health insurance, maternity benefits, medicine, market information and minimum wage as problems they face related to their work.

Garment Sector-Sindh All women are piece rate workers. They work 3-12 hours a day. They are paid in cash. In 57 % cases the payment is done fortnightly,

in 29 % of the cases after the task is completed and in 14 % of the cases, it is paid daily.

71 % of women face problems in receiving payments such as payments delayed, incomplete, irregular or lesser then agreed.

None of the women sell direct to costumer and have any idea about the market price. 70 % keeps records of the work and payments.

50 % does other kinds of domestic works to met expenses 80 % have not worked outside the house before.

34 % saves up to 2400 rupees per month. None of the women and the family members are members of any social security scheme. There are no welfare organizations working with home-based workers or an effort to form a union of home-based workers in their neighborhood.

Pottery Sector-Punjab 72 % women working in family businesses, 20 % are wage workers.64 % work

for 8-10 hours. 88 % work with contractors while 10 % take products to the market. 32 % get paid on monthly bases whereas 32 % get paid on daily and 22 % on

weekly bases. 50 % face difficulties while receiving payments from the sub contractor.

Problems reported:– Work regularity: most work is done in summer yet family businesses

continue in winter.– Reduced production in rainy season– Broken utensils during the heating process– Low demand and low remuneration for pottery– No monetary benefit and dependence on the husbands in case of family

businesses – No or little information on social protection schemes.– Heath problems such as cold and aching shoulders.– No other work opportunity

Pottery Sector-Balochistan

All women work 2-12 hours a day as casual labour. The monthly income changes between 500-2000 rupees.

Most are paid once the task is completed. All are paid in cash.

83 % sell their products directly to market through the men in their family, however they are not aware of the market price themselves. None keep records of the work and payments.

33 % women are involved in multiple to meet their expenses. None had worked outside their homes.

50 % of the women faced emergency situations e.g. illness in the family. They coped with the situation by borrowing money, working as bonded labour or reducing food consumption.

All the respondents are not aware of the social schemes available.

Pottery Sector-NWFP 17 % of women are piece rate workers, 83 % are

unpaid family labourers. They work 2-12 hours a day.

The monthly average income of the whole family in the business is 2500 rupees. All are paid in cash once the task is completed.

68 % sell their products directly to market through the men in their family, however they are not aware of the market price themselves. None keep records of the work and payments.

17 % do multiple activities to meet expenses None worked outside the house. 50 % of the women faced emergency situations e.g. severe illness in the family. They coped the situation by borrowing money or selling assets.

None of the women are aware of the social schemes available.

Pottery Sector-Sindh All women interviewed are piece rate workers. 70 %

are working in this sector for last 10 years. They work 3-12 hours a day.

All are paid in cash. 57 % paid fortnightly, 14 % daily and 29 % at the end of the task. 71 % of the women face problems in receiving payments.

None of the women sell their products directly in the market. More than 50 % sell their products to the middlemen.

50 % do other kinds of home-based work to meet expenses.

67 % do not save at all. 17 % of the women faced emergency situations e.g. severe illness in the family. They coped the situation by either borrowing money or selling assets.

None of the women are aware of the social schemes available.

Weaving Sector-Punjab 44 % of women do piece rate work while 44 % work for

family businesses. 60 % spend 7-10 hours doing home-based work. 94 % work with contractors while 6 % takes the products to

the market themselves. 66 % of women get paid on monthly bases and 32 % get paid on weekly based. 40 % face difficulties while receiving the payments from the sub contractor.

Problems faced:– Irregularity of work especially in the winter– Difficulty of production in the rainy season– Time consuming work but low wages – Inaccessibility to markets and dependency on the

middlemen– No or little information on social protection schemes.– Heath problems such as muscular pain, backache, cough

problems due to Khadis, aching shoulders and injury from the tools.

– No other work opportunity

Weaving Sector-Balochistan

67 % of women are piece rate workers while 34 % are self employed. They work 4-8 hours a day.

The monthly income changes between 2000-4000 rupees in the lean period, 3000-5000 rupees in the peak period. All are paid in cash after the completion of task. 67 % of women face problems in receiving payments such as payments delayed, incomplete, irregular or lesser then agreed.

None sell their products directly in market. 50 % sell the products to the middlemen whereas 50 % sell from home. None keep records of the work and payments.

All do various works to meet expenses such as different kinds of home-based work, agricultural work, working as house maid etc. None worked outside the house. 67 % can not save at all. The savings are used to pay back the previous loans.

Weaving Sector-Balochistan

50 % of the women faced emergency situations e.g. death or illness in the family or natural disaster. They coped with the situation by borrowing money, selling implements, working as bonded labor or withdrawing children from school. None of the women are aware of the social schemes available.

For 50 % of the cases there are welfare organizations working with home-based workers in their neighborhood. They provide credit and training. 17 % of the women are benefiting from these facilities.

None of the women are aware of any effort to form a union of home-based workers.

Problems reported: unhealthy housing, inaccessible credit, loans, untimely payments, unavailability of work as the most important problems they face related to their work.

Weaving Sector-NWFP 17 % of women are piece rate workers while 83 % are

unpaid family labour. They work 2-9 hours a day.

The monthly income ranges from 200-1500 rupees in the lean period, 1000-21000 rupees in the peak period. All receive payments in cash after the completion of task. 33 % of women report problems in receiving payments such as payments delayed, incomplete, irregular or lesser then agreed.

Only 16 % sell their products directly in market. Usually women give the completed products to their family members or to the middlemen to sell. None keep records of the work and payments.

Weaving Sector-NWFP 80 % are not able to save at all. The savings are used to pay

back previous loans.

17 % of the women faced emergency situations like illness and unemployment in the family. They coped with the situation by borrowing money and working as bonded labour. None of the women are aware of the social security schemes available.

For 83 % of the cases there are welfare organizations working with home-based workers in their neighbourhood. They provide skill trainings. 50 % of the women are benefiting from these facilities.

None of the women are aware of any effort to form a union of home-based workers.

Problems reported: unhealthy housing, inaccessible credit, loans, untimely payments, in availability of work as the most important problems they face related to their work.

Weaving Sector-Sindh All are piece rate workers. They work 4-15 hours a day. 33 % get paid weekly, 34 % fortnightly and 33 % get paid

monthly. 43 % report problems in receiving payments such as delay or incomplete payment. All receive payments in cash.

None sell their products directly in market. Usually women give the completed products to their family members or to middlemen to sell. 86 % do not keep records of the work and payments.

14 % worked outside their homes but left work due to domestic commitments. Though they did not earn more neither received any benefits they would like to work outside again.

72 % are not able to save, 28 % saves up to 2400 per year. The savings are used to pay back previous loans.

None of the women are aware of the social security schemes available.

Recommendations Development of a national policy and adoption of

appropriate legislation

Development of appropriate measures and periodic gender aggregated data collection

Design and implementation of regulations to secure proper income generation.

Development of capacity building programs providing skills training, credit, access to the information and markets.

Development of pilot social protection schemes

To Facilitate HBW’ers’ organizations, in order to strengthen their bargaining powers and enable the registration of HBW.