The results of this study reveal that women’s empowerment is well predicted by demographic, economic, social, and other variables. It was noted that women having higher education, living in urban areas, and having access to information were more likely to be empowered. Likewise, women having children, belonging to an older age group, earning more than their husbands, being the head of household, involved in paid work, and belonging to the rich class were more likely to be empowered.
The results highlighted a significant association between a woman’s age and her empowerment, i.e. women’s empowerment increased with increasing age. These results are also supported by various other studies conducted in South Asia, including Nepal [27], Bangladesh [28], and India [29]. One of the reasons identified for this trend in age and empowerment is attributed to power relations within the household [30]. In the case of Pakistan, marriages are usually arranged at a young age – almost half of all women are married before the age of 20 years [31]. In this context, childbearing, particularly before the age of 18 years, is detrimental to both mother and child, due not only to adverse reproductive health outcomes but also to social adjustments [32]. These women are mostly deprived of the opportunity to pursue other activities, such as schooling or employment [33].
Women’s place of residence was also significantly associated with empowerment. Similar to previous studies, the results highlighted that women living in urban areas were more empowered than their rural counterparts [34, 35]. Poverty-stricken rural women face a lack of economic opportunities and independence that pushes them another step away from decision-making [36].
The findings highlighted women’s education as a very strong predictor of empowerment. Since education enhances empowerment through increased skills, self-confidence, and knowledge [37, 38], and improves employment opportunities, as well as bringing income and healthcare-seeking mobility [39], highly educated women were found to be more empowered than those with low or no education. Arguably, housewifery is an expected gender role for women in Pakistan that diminishes educational opportunities for many young girls, particularly in rural areas [40, 41]. The study’s findings revealed that education of both spouses has a significant association with women’s empowerment [42]. By the same token, higher levels of education for both spouses result in more egalitarian decision-making within the household [43].
One of the most important results was the significant association between number of children and empowerment. Women with children, as compared to women without children, were more empowered, with the most highly empowered being those who had 4–6 children. The DHS data for Namibia and Zambia also highlight similar trends [44]. Similarly, DHS from Zimbabwe highlights a positive association between the number of male children and women’s empowerment [45]. Although the number of children, especially male ones, may solidify familial bonds and bring out a rather empowered guardian of her children aspect in a mother’s personality, it certainly cannot be taken as a policy outlook of empowerment in the same way as education, employment, and political participation.
Women’s empowerment increased consistently with increasing household wealth index. Similar results have also been reported from various other Southeast Asian countries, including Cambodia, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Timor-Leste [28]. In Pakistan, women stand low on the wealth index because their rights to inheritance and the ownership and management of property are poorly realized [25, 46]. Concomitantly, research indicates that women’s access to property and household resources does not guarantee empowerment; rather, it is control over those resources – ownership – that empowers women [47].
In the case of inheritance of property, Muslim countries, including Pakistan and Muslim-dominated areas of various other countries, enshrine the Islamic law of inheritance (Sharia) alongside the state laws [48]. Nonetheless, as in Pakistan, woman’s right to inheritance is poorly realized in the majority of the most populous Muslim countries/communities. This is mainly due to patriarchal customs and socio-cultural dynamics that give preference to men over women. Against the given backdrop, there is a dire need to introduce legal reforms, accompanied by viable administrative actions, across the Muslim countries, and particularly in Pakistan. Such an affirmative action could help to reduce gender-based discrimination and improve a range of socio-economic outcomes for women [49, 50].
Additionally, women’s productive employment is abysmally low, particularly in white-collar jobs and in rural areas [51]. Mostly, women are engaged in the informal economy, which usually does not allow them to play an equal role with men to add to their family’s wealth [52]. Moreover, women in the bottom strata of society struggle merely to cope with their sheer poverty and to manage their subsistence [53]. There is a strong need to enforce existing laws of ownership and inheritance and devise policies that encourage women’s employment.
According to the study results, women’s paid work had a positive and significant association with empowerment. Women involved in paid work were more likely to be empowered within the household than women with no paid work. The study’s findings also revealed that women working as skilled labourers and in managerial positions were the most empowered. These findings are supported by numerous studies, including DHS data from various Southeast Asian countries [28, 54]. The greater empowerment of skilled working women can be attributed to their greater freedom of movement and financial independence [55].
By contrast, women who undertake unpaid work as part of sharing or shouldering responsibilities are usually neither recognized by their family nor taken into account as a contribution to the household or state economy [56]. In this context, the “gender-disaggregated analysis of impact of the budget on time use” is one of the tools of “gender responsive budgeting” (GRB), which stipulates that time spent by women in so-called “unpaid work” is taken into account in budgetary policy analysis [57]. In this context, in a society like Pakistan, where the work done by women is mostly taken for granted and not accounted for, there is a need to adopt GRB in order to elevate women’s status.
Women residing in female-headed households were more likely to be empowered than their counterparts dwelling in male-headed households. A study conducted with rural Nigerian women showed similar results [58]. Likewise, another study using data from the Pakistan Integrated Household Survey established that women living in female-headed households were more empowered than those living in male-headed households, mostly owing to their greater participation in household decision-making [59]. A woman-headed household does not imply the absence of men or their support in the household. The literature indicates that the involvement of both men and women in household decision-making contributes to the improved wellbeing of both the household and society [60].
The findings of this study establish an association between women’s access to information and empowerment within the household. It was noted that women having access to various information sources, including radio, television, and newspapers, were more likely to be empowered than women with no access to information. Nonetheless, women’s access to information in Pakistan is typically very low compared to that of their male counterparts. This is very likely to result in a lack of women’s decision-making within the household. In principle, women with more information can be better aware of household needs and contribute more positively to household decision-making for the welfare of their family, particularly children [19]. Hence, information is a potent ingredient in ensuring women’s greater awareness and participation in public affairs [61].
The limitations that apply to this study are due to its cross-sectional design, which does not allow us to draw any causal conclusions. However, temporality can be established between empowerment and most of the risk factors examined here. For instance, age, parity, education, occupation, wealth etc. are established before the interview date, when empowerment is assessed. A further limitation is that data was assessed by a self-administered questionnaire. Therefore, socially desirable answers given by the women may lead to bias. However, further bias are reduced due to the fact trained interviewers were employed for data collection.