Reintegration of Pakistani Return Migrants from the Middle East in the Domestic Labour Market

This study aims, first, to assess unemployment levels among both return migrants and non-migrants and, second, to examine the reintegration pattern of returnees in the domestic labour market. The study has used three data sets: the 1980 PIDE/World Bank Survey of Return Migrant Households, the 1986 ILO/ARTEP Survey of Return Migrant Households, and the 1991 Pakistan Integrated Household Survey. The results show that unemployment rates are much higher among return migrants than among non-migrants. Although this difference has narrowed with the passage of time, even among those who returned to Pakistan at least 18 months prior to the surveys, more than 10 percent of workers are unemployed. The multivariate analysis further shows that returnees, irrespective of the period elapsed since their return, are more likely to be unemployed than non-migrants. With respect to the reintegration pattern of return migrants, the study reveals that the variables indicating their human capital such as occupation and premigration and during-migration work experience appear to have greater influence on their re-absorption than the variables related to economic positions such as savings. The possibility is that unemployed returnees can not save enough from their overseas earnings to become self-employed. Provision of credit for self-employment seems to be the right way to accommodate these workers. The study also shows that the majority of workers who are able to find employment on return are satisfied with their post-return jobs and income levels, suggesting their successful reintegration in the domestic labour market.

Period Without a Job After Returning from the Middle East: A Survival Analysis

Since the mid-1980s Pakistan has faced return flows of its workers from the Middle East on a large scale. The re-employment experience of returning workers has usually been examined by focusing on the unemployment rate. This paper concentrates on ‘duration of unemployment’ and examines the influences of socio-demographic characteristics of returnees and their households on the transition from being ‘not employed’ to being employed by estimating the proportional hazards model. The 1986 ILO survey of return migrant households is the data source used in this study. The majority of returnees who were ‘not employed’ (unemployed and inactive) had been without a job for more than one year. Nearly one-quarter of them had not been working for more than two years. The analysis shows that variables indicating the human capital of return migrants, such as age, education, occupation and work experience, appear to have greater influence on their re-employment probabilities than variables related to economic position, such as savings.

The Process of Urbanisation in Pakistan, 1951–81

The current level of urbanisation in Pakistan, approximately 33 percent in 1998, is not high by global standards. But it is commonly linked with unemployment, underemployment, shortage of housing, transport and other infrastructure like water supply and sewerage. Compared to other areas of population dynamics, such as fertility and mortality, studies in the field of urbanisation and internal migration in Pakistan are rather limited. During the last three decades hardly half a dozen studies could be added in the field of urbanisation. These studies are primarily based on data generated by the different censuses. After the 1979 Population Labour Force and Migration (PLM) Survey, no nationally representative survey addressing the issue of urbanisation and internal migration could be carried out. Even regional studies could not be conducted during the last two decades. The present study is designed to utilise the 1998 census data to investigate urban population growth, pace (or tempo) of urbanisation and components of urban growth for the period of 1981–98.

Diarrhoea Morbidity Differentials among Children in Pakistan

The present study used the 1995-96 Pakistan Integrated Household Survey data to determine the socio-economic, demographic, and environmental covariates of both prevalence and duration of diarrhoea among children under five in Pakistan. Seven logit models were estimated to determine factors influencing the probability of occurrence of diarrhoea. Seven Proportional Hazards Models were used to examine factors determining the duration of diarrhoea. Results revealed that around 20 percent of children under five suffered from diarrhoea in the 30 days prior to the survey. Child’s age was negatively associated with diarrhoea morbidity. Children who had measles immunisation were less likely than children without this immunisation to have diarrhoea. The study also revealed that in controlling the occurrence of diarrhoea among children, sanitation facilities seemed to be more important than the supply of drinking-water. With respect to the duration of diarrhoea, the hazard models showed that younger children, particularly under the age of two, were relatively at a greater risk to suffer from longer diarrhoea episode. The use of Nimkol (ORT) showed a significant and positive effect on recovering quickly from the diarrhoea morbidity. The findings of the study suggest that mothers should be given health education so that they are familiar with the simply prepared treatment, Nimkol, and have knowledge about personal hygiene, and specially of preparing supplementary foods for children.

Return Migration and Occupational Change: The Case of Pakistani Migrants Returned from the Middle East

This paper examines the factors affecting occupational composition of Pakistani workers upon their return from Middle East employment by using the 1986 ILO/ARTEP Survey of Return Migrant Households. In view of the concentration of workers in lowstatus occupations prior to migration, there was a great incentive for them to change these occupations after return. The study shows that the economic resources gained from overseas employment gave migrants the strength to seek independent employment, and there was a clear move out of the production-service occupations into business and agriculture occupations. This movement was strongly related to migrants’ length of stay in the Middle East. Since the occupational structure of the general population remained almost unchanged in the 1970s and 1980s, the employment trends exhibited by return migrants could largely be attributed to overseas migration. However, the study shows that businesses and farms established by migrant workers were small-scale.

Time Poverty, Work Status and Gender: The Case of Pakistan

The present study measures time poverty and its incidence across gender, occupational groups, industries, regions, and income levels using Time Use Survey (TUS) 2007, the first nationwide time use survey for Pakistan. In the entire TUS sample, the incidence of time poverty is 14 percent. Women are found to be more time poor than men whether employed or not. This is because of certain women-specific activities that they have to perform irrespective of their employment status. Working women are far more time poor than those not working.. Women accepting a job have to make a major trade-off between time poverty and monetary poverty. People working in professions and industries that generally require extended work hours and offer low wage rates are more time poor. This entails a situation of double jeopardy for workers who tend to be money and time poor at the same time. The close association of time poverty with low income found in this study corroborates this conclusion. Government can help reduce time poverty by enforcing minimum wage laws and mandatory ceiling on work hours in industries with high concentration of time poverty. Eradication of monetary poverty can also eliminate the need to work long hours at low wages just to survive. A fair distribution of responsibilities between men and women.is also needed. Keywords: Time Poverty, Gender Disparities, Time Use, SNA Activities, Time Use Survey, Pakista

Population Mobility across the Pakistani Border: Fifty Years Experience

This paper describes population mobility across borders experienced by Pakistan during the past fifty years. Some consequences of this mobility have also been briefly mentioned. The dichotomy of this population mobility into inward and outward flow reveals that while the former can be traced to political factors like the partition of the Subcontinent and the Afghan war, the latter mostly represents a job-oriented move. Every flow is associated with its own set of effects, difficult to be encompassed by a single research exercise. Migration from India in the wake of partition is associated with a higher level of urbanisation and a rise in religious homogeneity associated at the same time with increased ethnic diversity, which according to some can be linked with the current Karachi situation. Pakistan also engaged in manpower export and experienced brain-drain. Both of these outward flows, to some extent rooted in history, have particular effects for the society and economy. These differences emanate from the pattern of permanent or temporary settlement abroad, characteristics of the emigrants particularly in terms of human capital endowments, and the nature of links maintained with families in Pakistan which have a bearing on the inflow of remittances. Illegal migration to Pakistan from the surrounding countries is alleged to be substantial at present. The ease with which the identity cards and passports of Pakistan are acquired by these illegal migrants simply reveals the level of control and the standard of honesty prevailing in the situation. In this context, the importance of peace and economic stability in the neighbouring countries emerges to be quite obvious for Pakistan.

Climate, population, and vulnerability in Pakistan: Exploring evidence of linkages for adaptation

The global discussion of climate change and its impacts and causes has changed completely in the past quarter century. Scientific opinion now accepts that rapid warming is occurring and that greenhouse gases (GHG) emitted as a result of human activities are largely to blame. The consequences of taking no action will be catastrophic. Unfortunately, the burden of impact will fall disproportionately on the poor and most vulnerable people who rely heavily on agriculture in countries where average temperatures are already high. Climate change is particularly harmful because it increasingly threatens food security in these countries. Pakistan is one of the most vulnerable countries in the world. This monograph uses diverse data sources to initiate an interdisciplinary conversation on the interlinkages of climate change and demography through contributions from national experts in meteorology, migration, and agriculture. The aim is to provide a regionally nuanced perspective of the climatic changes to which the population is exposed; the key demographic and socioeconomic trends that have a bearing on vulnerability, resilience, and adaptation; internal migration; and the expected combined impact of these dynamics on the country’s food and economic mainstay—agriculture