Like most countries, a half of Pakistan’s population is female. Unlike most countries though, women in Pakistan are not a part of the workforce as much as they should be. Apart from patriarchal attitudes, what discourages them from joining professional lives is also the lack of childcare facilities available at workplaces and in their surroundings in general.

Since childcare is considered the exclusive responsibility of mothers, many of them are forced to take long leave of absence from work, hampering their career prospects.

The moment you utter the word childcare centres, what immediately comes to mind is middle and upper class households, but this is not a correct reading of the problem. Working women of all classes have to make some arrangement for the children, especially in the pre-school years, to be able to come to work.

Women working as house maids leave their children back in insecure environments and remain stressed at work. Those who can afford hire trained nannies but more often untrained and underage girls or even boys, which is a far from satisfactory arrangement.

What is needed is a proper policy to put functional daycare centres in place, keeping in view the demands of population increase and urbanisation. If indeed the law envisages all organisations to have daycare arrangements to facilitate working mothers and also fathers, it should be implemented in letter. Of course, the situation is improving and there are more such facilities in the public and private sector, but the fact remains that these are not enough. The women development departments in all provinces have prioritised the issue, some more than others, but we still have a long way to go.

There are cultural barriers to overcome as well, as children are supposed to be cared for and raised best at homes. But with more women joining the workforce, these attitudes need to change. For this to happen, we do not just need more facilities, we need these facilities to be well-provided, fulfilling the best standards that there are to childcare.

Also read: Not enough daycare facilities

Our Special Report today focuses on this important and most under-vocalised issue facing this society.