Impact of Female Workforce Participation on Intimate Partner Violence (IPV): Protective or Provocative? Evidence from Punjab,Pakistan

Abstract

This study investigates the causal link between women’s participation in the labour force and intimate partner violence (IPV) in Punjab, Pakistan, using household data from the 2017–2018 Demographic and Health Survey. To address endogeneity, we use a novel instrumental variable constructed from the interaction between historical district-level female labour-force participation rates and the inverse of the number of adult male household members. Applying an IV probit model, we find that, on average, women’s employment does not significantly influence most types of IPV, except for sexual violence, which is notably decreased. Heterogeneity analysis shows that the protective effect of employment varies; it is strongest and most accurately measured for women with four or more children, aligning with a household bargaining framework. Employment also reduces sexual violence more significantly for women in couples with smaller spousal age gaps, while a large age difference completely negates this protective benefit. Husband’s alcohol use and the intergenerational transmission of violence are identified as the most consistent and powerful predictors of IPV. These findings highlight the need to focus employment policies on the most economically vulnerable women and to reform curricula to change social norms and acceptable behaviours.