Estimating Working Poverty in Pakistan Evidence from National, Rural and Urban Population

The aim of this paper is to estimate the population of working poor inthe labour market in Pakistan. This study covered two different poverty ratios at twodifferent times i.e., $1.25 per day from 1987-2005 and official national poverty lineat 2350 calorie per adult equivalent per day from 1979-2006 respectively. The mainfinding suggests that there are around 1.618 million working poor during 2004-05.These figures imply that around 3.7 percent of the employed persons in the Pakistanare currently living on less than $1.25 per day. Similarly, around 1.631 million workingpoor (3.4 percent of working population) in the Pakistan are living below the officialnational poverty line i.e., Rs. 945.45 per month in 2005-06. In rural Pakistan, thereis an estimated 0.957 million working poor, with lower and upper estimates of 0.812million and 1.102 million respectively. These figures imply that around 4.7 percentof total working poor in the rural Pakistan are currently living on less than 2,450calories per equivalent per day. In urban Pakistan, there are an estimated 0.673 millionworking poor with lower and upper estimates of 0.613 million and 0.730 millionrespectively. These figures imply that around 2.5 percent of total working poor in theurban Pakistan are currently living on less than 2,150 calories per equivalent per day.Government should focus on working poor estimates and introduce reform packagesfor the working poor in Pakistan.