Work at home

Pakistan’s hidden workers - Wages and conditions of home-based workers and the informal economy

This report sets out the findings of research carried out between May and December 2016 in two locations in Karachi looking at Pakistan’s informal economy and the supply chains existing within the textile and garment sector. The report has been undertaken by the ILO’s Labour Standards in Global Supply Chains: A Programme for Action in Asia and the Garment Sector, funded by GIZ and BMZ, on behalf of the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany

The research identified a complex web of relationships within the informal economy and links to the formal economy. This report highlights the links between the work undertaken by home-based workers and the various layers of the informal and formal economies in national and, in some cases, international supply chains. It also aims to show the wage levels of women working within the informal economy in Karachi, particularly in relation to the most vulnerable section of the informal economy, home-based workers.