Socio-Economic and Demographic Factors of Poverty Alleviation in Pakistan: A Case Study of Southern Punjab

Abstract

This study aims to explore the socio-economic and demographic determinants of poverty in Southern Punjab by using the cross sectional data consisting of 785 household heads. Binary logistic regression and ordinary least square method are used for estimation. The findings exhibit that the variables like family system, household size, presence of disease and status of employment of household head are positively and significantly related to poverty whereas household head age, rural-to-urban migration, years of schooling, number of earners, women status of work, remittances, the physical assets value and ownership of house significantly and negatively influence the likelihood of poverty and positively influence the per capita income of the households in Southern Punjab. The study also provides the comparison of regional and division level. It is concluded that DG Khan division is the poorest among all the divisions of the southern Punjab. In DG Khan Division, the households have less education, high dependency ratio. In rural areas of southern Punjab, there is more poverty as compare to urban areas. The rural poverty is due to many factors like high dependency rate, lower level of education, adoption of profession, lower per capita income, dissaving. It is suggested that education should be promoted, employment opportunity should be provided so that dependency rate may be reduced, rural areas should be restructured by provision of basic necessities of life.