International Journal of Social Work and Human Services Practice Horizon Research Publishing Vol.2. No.2 Apr, 2014, pp. 48-55 Visible Work, Invisible Workers: A Study of Women Home Based Workers in Pakistan Syeda Mahnaz Hassan 1,* , Azlinda Azman 2 1 Department of Social Work, University of the Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan 2 Social Work Programme, School of Social Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang, Malaysia *Corresponding Author: syeda_mahnaz@yahoo.com Abstract The paper examines the socio-cultural and economic factors which are adversely affecting home based women workers; the interdependence of these factors and the needed intervention. It provides situational analysis and looks at those critical elements which construct the invisibility, vulnerability, social exclusion, gender disparity and vicious cycle of poverty among the home based women workers. This qualitative study used in-depth interviews and focus group discussions. The study findings indicated that women home based workers were invisible and unrecognized; bound by socio-cultural barriers; and lacking awareness and access to social protection facilities. Suggestions on relevant policies should be crafted to properly recognize the home based women workers, including the need for minimum wage legislation, social security benefits, proper skill training, a more permanent work, timely wages, housing facilities and access to loans and credits for this population. Keywords Women Home Based Workers, Invisibility, Vulnerability, Gender Disparity, Social Protection, Social Exclusion Introduction Home based work is becoming an important part of the economic transformation process. Its growth is significantly linked to the globalization of industry and the continuous search for cheaper labour and more efficient means of production. In today's global market, it is not unusual for a single garment or electronic device to be a collective effort of workers in two or three countries, most of whom are not even aware of each other's existence and the nature or type of final product they produce. Home based work constitutes a significant part of an informal economy. According to one estimate, there are three billion home based workers working around the world. In South Asia, the number of home based workers is estimated at over half a billion, the majority of them (80%) are women workers (Homenet Pakistan, 2005). In Pakistan, almost 80% of total labour force is engaged in informal sector and more than 50% of this consists of women. Approximately, 77% to 83% of the women in informal sector are home based workers (Homenet Pakistan, 2005). Home based work is a “difficult empirical concept” (Cunningham & Gomez, 2004). In Asia, the term "home based worker" is usually used to refer to women who work in their homes with the work sourced from middlemen. In developed countries, “home based workers" are "piece-rate" workers who are involved in different phases of production and who also get work through middleman. The International Labour Organization (ILO) uses the term "homeworker" for those workers who work from their homes to produce intermediary goods. Other studies have used the terms home based workers and home workers interchangeably, while others have used varied criteria to define home based work (Bajaj, 1999). Historically, there have been a strong link between women, home and home based economic activity. As home based work was seen as part of personal, private and domestic choice, it was thus invisible and unrecognized. Women, who have been restricted within the confines of their homes, found an opportunity to raise their family income by doing home based work. Due to the changing economic trends of shifting the formal economy into informal sector, decreasing employment opportunities in formal sector, growing practice of outsourcing, have all given rise to home based work. Women, being the flexible workforce, became the major source of home based work. Pakistani women are generally assumed a non-productive population in the society. Although studies on labor and women are providing evidence of the growing share of the women’s work in the productive economy, but this work force work under poor working conditions. Socio-economic and cultural value system of the society also affect women to a considerable extent. Those who work in their homes are victims of social restraints, evolved in the name of honor and dignity of women. It is a matter of grave concern that home based women workers, while contributing to national economy, have ISSN: 2332-6840 (Online) 2332-6832 (Print) Copyright © 2014 Horizon Research Publishing