This research aims to assess the household and individual-level factors, specifically education, that affect the probability of women being engaged in decent work activities in the labor market. The study utilized the most recent labor force survey data from Pakistan with a sample size of 64,009 women. The research exploits the multinomial logit model (MNL) for data analysis. Several studies exist on the causes of female labor force participation nationally—in Pakistan—and internationally. However, there is a lack of research exploring the link between women’s access to decent work and various household and individual-level characteristics. This study intends to fill this literature gap by exploiting the largest nationwide labor force survey and exploring how household and individual-level factors, specifically focusing on women’s education level, relate to women’s employment status categories. The study’s findings reveal that education plays an essential role in uplifting women for better employment opportunities, i.e., educated women are more likely to be engaged in decent labor market activities such as paid employees and employers. The findings of the study propose some significant policy implications. E.g., (i) since education is the key to open better and decent work opportunities, it is crucial for women and their household heads to invest in education and vocational training; (ii) there is a dire need to have a policy shift in providing women access to at least a higher secondary (HS) level of education in Pakistan. The rationale is that less educated and illiterate women are concentrated in vulnerable employment; and (iii) at a micro level, there is a need to bring awareness among male household heads, specifically in rural areas, to realize that working women should not be considered a social stigma for the household.

中文翻译：

---

妇女赋权的途径和体面工作赤字的决定因素：南亚视角

本研究旨在评估影响妇女在劳动力市场上从事体面劳动活动的可能性的家庭和个人层面的因素，特别是教育。该研究利用了来自巴基斯坦的最新劳动力调查数据，样本量为 64,009 名女性。该研究利用多项 logit 模型 (MNL) 进行数据分析。在巴基斯坦和国际上，有几项关于女性劳动力参与的原因的研究。然而，缺乏探索妇女获得体面工作与各种家庭和个人特征之间联系的研究。本研究旨在通过利用最大的全国劳动力调查并探索家庭和个人层面的因素，特别关注女性教育水平，来填补这一文献空白。与妇女的就业状况类别有关。研究结果表明，教育在提升女性获得更好就业机会方面发挥着重要作用，即受过教育的女性更有可能从事体面的劳动力市场活动，例如有偿雇员和雇主。研究结果提出了一些重要的政策含义。例如，(i) 由于教育是创造更好和体面工作机会的关键，因此对妇女及其户主投资于教育和职业培训至关重要；(ii) 迫切需要改变政策，为巴基斯坦的妇女提供至少接受高等教育（HS）水平的教育。理由是受教育程度较低和文盲的妇女集中在脆弱的就业岗位上；(iii) 在微观层面，