A Case Study of Pakistan Determinants of Female Labour Force in South Asia 2. Factors affecting Female Labour Force Participation This chapter discusses the relationship between evolving socio-economic and demographic factors and their effect on the women’s participation in the labour market. Apart from the economic factors, culture/norms also play a significant role in South Asia. Hence, the report reviews legal barriers, culture, income level, and education as essential drivers of FLFP. 2.1. Income levels Najeeb et al.(2020) note that there is a“U-shaped” relationship between FLFP and the country’s level of development(a standard measure of which is the Gross Domestic Product per capita). Hence, low- and high-income countries would have higher participation rates than middle-income countries. A common explanation that is often related to this is the fact that since in these middle-income countries, the agricultural sector is primarily dominant; hence when these countries transition from this agricultural employment to the one that is more technology-oriented, men’s privileged access to education means a higher displacement of women from the labour market(Boserup, 1970). For the same reason, this Covid-19 pandemic had a disproportionate effect on the women in Pakistan. This is especially the case for the Home-Based Workers(HBWs), as they are invisible in the systems to take advantage of any financial support program. To gauge this, Hasan et al.(2020) analyzed who could study and work from home in Pakistan in 2020. The idea was to realize if women carried the most burden of the pandemic. The results show that although for women 9%–76% of the tasks in the top five occupations are switchable online(as compared to 0% for males) however due to lack of information technology education and inequalities in internet use, they are not better off than men(see Appendix-A). Apart from the country’s income level, household income level is also an important determinant. Olivetti(2014, p. 166) explains that with an improvement in men’s market opportunities, women move out of the labour 3