Poverty and Inequality amid COVID-19 – Evidence from Pakistan’s Labour Market

This study has attempted to reveal the social disparity between different income groups in Pakistan in the times of a global health and economic crisis of COVID-19. Using the latest data of Pakistan Labour Force Survey (2017-18), the first objective of the study is to measure the opportunity to work from home across the country in different income groups and gauge both economic and geographic inequality in the ability to work from home. The second objective of the study is to find the labour, which is most vulnerable to job lay-offs with their respective occupations and industries across the country. The major findings of the study are that 18.5 percent of the working population can work from home, which is mostly located in the major cities of the country. The investigation reveals that more than 70 percent of the working force in Pakistan is working without any written contract or agreement making them the most vulnerable to job layoffs in the times of global economic crisis. A province wise analysis of vulnerable occupation and industries is also discussed.