The gender
discriminatory practices in Pakistani society also shape the
distribution of poverty in the country. Traditional gender roles in
Pakistan define the woman’s place as in the home and not in the
workplace, and define the man as the breadwinner. Consequently, the
society invests far less in women than men.“Vulnerability” in
this case stands for the underlying susceptibility of economicaIIy
deprived people to fall into poverty as a result of exogenous random
shocks. Vulnerable households are generally found to have low
expenditure levels. Households are considered vulnerable if they do not
have the means to smooth out their expenses in response to changes in
income. In general, vulnerability is likely to be high in households
clustered around the poverty line. Since coping strategies for
vulnerable households depend primarily on their sources of income,
exogenous shocks can increase reliance on non-agricultural wages. Such
diversification has not occurred in many parts of Pakistan, leading to
an increased dependence on credit
While economic
vulnerability is a key factor in the rise of poverty in Pakistan,
vulnerability also arises from social powerlessness, political
disenfranchisement, and ill-functioning and distortionary institutions,
and these also are important causes of the persistence of vulnerability
among the poor.
Other causes of
vulnerability in Pakistan are the everyday harassment by corrupt
government officials, as well as their underperformance, exclusion and
denial of basic rights to many in Pakistan. Also, lack of adequate
health care by the state lead the poor to seek private sources, which
are expensive, but still preferable to the possibility of medical
malpractice and being given expired medicines in state run medical
facilities. Also, the failure by the state to provide adequate law and
order in many parts of the country is a factor in the rise of
vulnerability of the poor.
Pakistan is home to a large feudal landholding system where landholding
families hold thousands of acres and do little work on the agriculture
themselves. They enlist the services of their serfs to perform the labor
of the land. 5l% of poor tenants owe money to the landlords. The
landlords’ position of power allows them to exploit the only resource
the poor can possibly provide: their own labor.
Most people in Pakistan
are unable to adopt technology for their business needs. Inequality is
often a measure of relative poverty.