A Case Study of Pakistan Determinants of Female Labour Force in South Asia not the only solution to address the inequalities in the labour market. As discussed in the study, various other social and economic factors at play need to be seen holistically to improve the FLFP scenario. 7.2. Policy Outlook This report provides a thorough analysis of South Asia’s actual labor market conditions and sheds light on poor social indicators that need dire attention. Steps to counter the gender disparity in education and FLFP go hand-in­hand. Following are some recommendations that, if implemented on a local and national level, can bring about drastic improvements to FLFP and the overall economic and social autonomy of women in various regions including Pakistan. Important to highlight in this regard is that to have any meaningful impact, measures taken by the policy makers and political leaders must go above and beyond merely increasing the average educational levels. Instead, they must be targeted at eliminating the radical disparities between the male and female genders in Pakistan. Targeted Social Support Initiatives One of the strategies that can be employed is providing cash or in-kind benefits to parents, especially in rural and poor regions of Pakistan(and in countries alike), to induce them to keep their daughters enrolled in schools. This method has proven to be successful in several countries(Heath& Jayachandran, 2017). One such example of a cash program is Oportunidades which has been implemented in Mexico. Through this program, a large amount of cash is given to parents on the pretext that a much larger amount is needed to encourage them to educate their daughters than to educate their sons. Similarly, in the state of Bihar, India, free bicycles are awarded to girls who attain secondary level education. As a result, women’s school enrolment was reportedly increased by 30%(Muralidharan& Prakash, 2013). It is imperative for Pakistan’s policy makers and leaders to learn from such examples to influence societal norms and perspectives about female education. It can be argued that a female support program, namely the Benazir Income Support Programme(BISP) which was introduced in 2008 as an unconditional cash transfer for poor women, is already seeking to eliminate gender disparities. It is, however, important to note that its lack of targeting in the education sector may mean that it wouldn’t suffice for the needed paradigm shift. 51