Nearly 24% of highly educated women unemployed in Pakistan, PBS data shows

Unemployment among women in Pakistan rises sharply with higher levels of education, with nearly one in four highly educated women currently out of work, according to data from the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics’ Labour Force Survey 2024-25.

An analysis based on the survey shows that unemployment among women stands at 4.7% for those with no formal education. The rate increases to 9.0% for women with education below matric and 15.5% for those who have completed matriculation.

The trend becomes more pronounced at higher education levels. Women with intermediate qualifications face an unemployment rate of 23.6%. For bachelor’s degree holders, the rate is 23.8%, while women with master’s, M.Phil or PhD degrees record an unemployment rate of 23.9%.

The findings indicate that unemployment among women increases steadily with educational attainment, challenging the assumption that higher education automatically improves employability.

The analysis attributes the trend to structural constraints in the labour market rather than reduced employability due to education. It identifies limited availability of suitable white-collar jobs, mismatches between academic training and market demand, slow expansion of high-productivity sectors and social norms affecting female workforce participation as key factors.

While female educational attainment has expanded in recent years, the survey suggests that growth in formal employment opportunities has not kept pace.

The report notes that improving female labour force participation requires targeted job creation in high-skill sectors, expansion of private enterprise, safer workplaces and stronger school-to-work transition mechanisms. It states that without parallel growth in professional and knowledge-based industries, higher education levels among women may continue to coincide with elevated unemployment.