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Pakistan has one of the lowest rates of female labor force participation in Asia. Only 22 per cent of women participated in the labor force in Pakistan in 2019 compared to an average of 24 per cent in the South Asia region, and 59 per cent in the East Asia and Pacific region. Cultural and social norms surrounding women's responsibilities at home, their travel outside the home, and their interaction with unrelated men create multiple barriers for women who may be eager to enter the workforce. While the lack of safe opportunities for transport acts as a constraint for mobility to work for many women, the lack of viable options for childcare limits others from working. In such a setting, it becomes especially important to ensure that women who do manage to overcome these barriers and enter the workforce find workplace environments that they deem safe and comfortable.

The provision of basic workplace services and policies - such as separate toilet spaces, separate prayer areas, transport to work, and predictable work hours - could be fundamental to retaining female talent in organizations and encouraging other women to enter the labor market. In this policy brief, results are used from a representative sample of firms surveyed across Lahore, Pakistan, to understand which of these provisions are offered by employers in urban Pakistan to female employees, and how the availability of these provisions varies with employers' interest in hiring women. These results shed light on how comfortable workspaces in Lahore currently are for women and the extent to which they can be made more favorable, both for women who are currently employed, and those who wish to join the labor force.

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