LABOUR PARTICIPATION OF PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES IN PAKISTAN: ROLE OF DISABILITY TYPES

Abstract

This study is a preliminary investigation into the impact of six specific disability types—seeing, hearing, walking, memorizing, self-care, and speaking—on the labor participation of persons with disabilities. In addition to the empirical analysis, this study also include a heterogeneity analysis across the four provinces of Pakistan to gain deeper insights into the labor participation patterns of individuals with different types of disabilities. The study utilizes the 2020-21 Labour Force Survey (LFS) of Pakistan, focusing on individuals with a single disability. The final sample includes 13,009 individuals: 2,626 from KPK, 6,624 from Punjab, 2,763 from Sindh, and 996 from Balochistan. The estimates of the logit model suggest that memorizing disabilities consistently emerge as the most significant barrier to labor participation across all provinces, followed by self-care and walking disabilities, which also substantially reduce labour participation. Hearing disabilities have a minimal impact in most regions but show a positive effect in Balochistan. Speaking disabilities generally exhibit minimal or statistically insignificant effects across the provinces. These findings underscore the importance of recognizing both the type of disability and regional context in addressing labor force participation gaps.

Keywords: Labour Participation, Disability, Disability types, Person with disabilities, Labour Force Survey