THE IMPACT OF GENDER INEQUALITY ON RURAL HOUSEHOLD POVERTY IN PUNJAB, PAKISTAN

Abstract

The research was conducted in collaboration of Department of Rural Sociology, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, Pakistan during the year of 2020 in rural areas of Punjab. This study aimed to examine the impact of gender inequality on rural household poverty in Punjab, (Pakistan). Gender is psychological and socio- cultural one while “sex” is a biological word. The disparity between male along with women in conditions of division of existing resources are called gender inequality. The sampling framework consisted of five steps. Three districts were selected (Faisalabad, Rawalpindi and Bahawalpur), respectably through simple random technique from 36 districts in Punjab, Pakistan. Total 480 respondents were selected for data collection. These were open and close ended questions for data collections in an interview schedule. Data was analyzed through SPSS software. The results showed that around onefourth (24.2%) of the selected population currently involved in paid work, a large majority 75.8% of them told that they were never engaged in any paid work activity while 43.1 percent working women never received same pay/salary as the males that effected on their rural household poverty. So, it was suggested that women should have equal opportunity of employment and other resources for alleviation of gender inequality that was negative associated with household poverty.