Vocational Education and Home-based Work: Socioeconomic Issues of Self-employed Home-based Women Workers in Pakistan

Abstract

Home-based work is considered a gendered phenomenon as an overwhelming majority of home-based workers comprises women. Despite the fact that millions of women in Pakistan are engaged in home-based work, they are not recognized as workers in national labor laws and are deprived of social protection and other facilities available to workers in formal economy. This research examines socioeconomic problems faced by the women workers, the ways they negotiate those problems, and how vocational education affects their lived experiences. Drawing upon in-depth interviews with home-based women workers in Rawalpindi and Islamabad, the study showed that home-based work is considered appropriate for women because it does not require them to compromise their primary roles as mothers and caregivers for their families. As the home-based work remains un-regularized and outside the radar of labor policies, the women workers faced severe human insecurities, including economic insecurity, shelter insecurity, and health insecurity. Formal vocational training helped the women to enhance their skills according to the market trend and get awareness about the market price of their work.