SOCIO-ECONOMIC AND CULTURAL CONSTRAINTS OF WOMEN IN PAKISTAN WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO MARDAN DISTRICT, NWFP PROVINCE

This study was carried out in district Mardan, North West Frontier Province, Pakistan during 2006. The basic purpose of the study was to analyze the socio-economic and cultural constraints of women in the research area. Primary data were collected from 100 respondents randomly selected in two villages namely Moheb Banda and Zando Dheri. The results show that socioeconomic status of women was worse because of low literacy rate, lack of educational facilities, awareness, poor economic condition, lack of skills and insecure environment of the society for working women. Men have more decision-making power than the women regarding family, choice of selecting male partners and household expenditure. In certain cases only elderly women were consulted for opinion in decision-making. Women were culturally constrained to remain at home and care for their children. Majority of the sampled respondents were in favour of getting formal education but only few of them were able to take independent decision in getting formal education. Independent decisions about family type, level of income, landholding and level of literacy of the sampled respondents had no significant effect on the living standard. Similarly the education of a household’s head had no significant effect on the literacy level of the sampled respondents. After studying and analyzing the socio-economic and cultural status of the women in selected areas of district Mardan, it is to recommend that female education is essential for the economic development of the area. For this purpose better educational facilities should be provided for women. Moreover, promotion of research on the conditions and problems of women is essential. Also Employment opportunities should be provided for women by establishing cottage and agro-based industries