Unconditional cash transfers and women’s labor supply in Pakistan

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article uses propensity score matching techniques to estimate unconditional cash transfer effects on women’s labour outcomes in Pakistan. Using two rounds of nationally representative data, we find positive effects for women in recipient households . However, we observe a dip in overall women’s employment from the first to the second round. This is likely driven by a downturn in the agriculture sector’s performance. Moreover, women in beneficiary households are better able to recover suggesting higher resilience to macroeconomic shocks. Yet, not all our results are positive as women remain vulnerable in their lack of access to non-agriculture earned income.