Linking Long-Term Trends of Female Unpaid Work and Macro Economy: A Preliminary Modeling of Pakistan Data
Sajjad Akhtar

Abstract
During 1991-2015, the female contributing family workers (CFWs) in agriculture in Pakistan fluctuated between 52-71 percentages. In spite of Pakistan’s transition to a lower middle income country in the last 25 years, the phenomena of secular decline in the share of female CFWs in agriculture remains weak. This paper is an initial attempt to explore, model and quantify the links of macro economy to long-term trends of female CFWs in agriculture in the country. Three separate reduced form specifications are estimated to explain the participation of CFWs in agriculture: i) Intra-farm allocation of CFWs labor supply, ii) Wage-Price impacts and iii) Farm based activity. The results identify and quantify the contribution of macro drivers such as unemployment rates, education, sectoral job opportunities, wages and farm practices and activities in explaining the long-term trends’ for female CFWs in Pakistan.

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