A Case Study of Pakistan Determinants of Female Labour Force in South Asia 5.2. Factors for low Education Deep-rooted inequalities and cultural stigmas attached to women’s education have led to low educational attainment for women in the South Asian region. While the region is rich in diversity, it comprises some of the world’s poorest countries with highest mortality rates and low living standards(S. R. Khan, 1993b). Hence, multiple economic and social factors explained below contribute to staggering low rates of women education in South Asia. Widespread poverty in the South Asian region is one of the most significant factors that negatively influences women's education. Low-income families with already few resources perceive women’s education as an additional cost to bear as the monetary pressure of dowry already burdens them. With finite resources, when parents are faced with either educating a girl or a boy, most individuals prefer educating a male child for various reasons. According to a study conducted by National Centre for Education Research and Training in India, multiple reasons including domestic responsibilities, early marriages, betrothal, and parental indifference towards women education accounts for 55% dropout rate from schools at the primary level(S. R. Khan, 1993a, p. 187). Moreover, in a few conservative societies in South Asia, feminine honour codes are defined which puts the burden of maintenance of the social reputation of the family on women. Women education is considered to be a threat to these honour codes. Consequently, adolescent girls are withdrawn early from the schools to preserve their good reputation and hence the honour of the family. A similar attitude of poor rural parents is reported in Nepal where women education is viewed as a threat to decency and morality in the society(S. R. Khan, 1993b). Mobility is another significant factor. Parents are reluctant to send their daughters far off to avail of education. As discussed in the earlier section, mobility constraints affect women’s education and their labour participation in the longer run. Therefore, while other factors being unchanged the likelihood of women attending school increases with a shorter distance to school. According to a report published by UNESCO 2010, girls’ enrolment and distance depict an inverse relation as with each 500 meter increase in distance to school, there is a sharp decline in women enrollment, accounting for 60% of the gender gap in education in Pakistan(A. N. Choudhry et al., 2019a). 30