There is greater acceptance and acknowledgement of 'different' parts of the society as is seen in the recent publication by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics. In the previous one, there was no account of the transgender community despite its obvious presence; whereas, the current numbers show that they have been accounted for as part of the country's population. Punjab, where majority of the population of the country resides, is also home to majority of the transgender community, which is roughly 70 percent.

Males have consistently made up a larger part of the population which explains that for every single female there is more than one male available for marriage. Simply explained in economics, demand exceeds supply, thus the value should increase. However, our society has trumped this theory with the problem of dowry still persisting, even in the apparently 'elite' parts of the country.

However, there is a slight shift in this paradigm where the figure for female per hundred males is increasing; this could be due to greater acceptability of the female infant. On the other hand, the rate of population growth has declined slowly, albeit marginally. Due to majority of the socio-economic activity happening in the urban areas, urbanization has been on the rise from 15.4 percent at the time of independence to 36.4 percent in 2017.

Is there a need or aspiration for better survival and living standards? Working population, which constitutes people aged between 15 to 59 years of age, has also seen a rise, for both males and females. However, what is unknown are the factors which are causing this trend.

The increase in working population in turn is causing a declining dependency ratio; the latter has seen a reduction from 88.3 in 1998 to almost 65 in 2017. With the lower fertility rate and greater life expectancy, the index of ageing is on a rise. This could however, have implications in terms of greater dependent population in the future.

As per the country's constitution, the provincial government is responsible for provision of health services and facilities. Despite the rise in physical facilities, what is unexplained and alarming is the increase in infant mortality, post 2011-12, especially for male infants. Pakistan has the highest infant mortality rate when compared to its regional counterparts; India, Bangladesh and Nepal have a rate of 32, 26 and 28 deaths respectively per 1000 live births, while Pakistan's is nearly double oat around 62 deaths.

Contrary to the popular trend where males still command a greater number in the working population, enrolment in schools and colleges among other areas, the fairer gender has the upper hand in the field of medicine - even more so in dentistry, where the difference is more pronounced. Social and cultural conditioning could clarify this idea that the fields of teaching and medicine are more apt for women than for men.

Although teaching is a socially more preferred and acceptable career option for the women, teaching in the medicine profession is a different ballgame where the area is largely conquered by male professionals. A probable reason for this could be that after acquiring education, females tend to disappear from the job market post-marriage; or that the female patients demand a lady practitioner to examine them, hence the latter deem practicing medicine as a more viable option than teaching in professional medical colleges.

The data shows that the number of schools at primary, middle and high school level, in general, has been increasing, with gradual conversion observed between males and females. At professional college level, there is thorough male domination while art colleges are still largely occupied by the females. The social construct of our society still remains the same, where the primary concern of a woman is marriage.

Across institutions, the gender disparity is reducing and more females are coming at par with the males; however, the nature of work preference has remained the same as shown in history whereby a female majority workforce is seen in teaching and males are seen in apparently more important and professional areas. This opens the floor for another discussion - to give due importance to the profession of teaching, the nation-building mechanism of any country.

Again, although the idea prevalent is that teaching is a preferred career option for females in terms of lesser work hours (ironic, considering the work load in comparison to the pay) among other reasons; the numbers narrate a different story where male teachers are higher than female teachers with the exception of middle school where post 2015, female teachers outnumber males. The data of university level teachers is even more depressing where females have a long way to go to reach the numbers claimed by the male counterparts.

A factor that is perplexing is that while working population saw an increase, the labour force participation rate for males has remained more or less stagnant; while surprisingly for the females it has declined marginally, more so in rural areas, and unsurprisingly in urban areas. If one were to look at it according to age, without a doubt, the most productive period in terms of participation is between the twenties and fifties.

Another prevalent trend that is seen is that formal sector activities are more in urban than in rural. Moreover, female participation is again greater in urban formal and rural informal. In the informal sector, a considerable employment is taking place in the manufacturing sector.

As in other areas, female participation has remained below male participation in the political arena. There are 728 seats in the four provincial assemblies collectively and 342 seats in the national assembly; women are equally allowed to contest for these seats, although how many were elected is a different story. In 1990, there were only two women in the National Assembly. However, with the introduction of special seats reserved for women to increase their representation; the number has gradually increased since 1990. As of 2018, 60 seats are reserved for women in the national assembly, while 69 females are members of it.

Thus, it can be safely said that while norms are hostage to longstanding and predefined standards of what is acceptable and unacceptable for women in Pakistan, and it is still going to be a long while for the inherent mindsets to shift, the catalyst for change has been set by the medium of increased connectivity. The rise in divorced and widowed women would justify a greater need for women-friendly work places. The need to be financial independence, the realization of their usurped rights and the need for self-fulfillment has set the tone for a major shift in the socio-economic outlook for Pakistan.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2019