Adolescent Girls’ Voices on Enhancing their own Productivity

Of the 11 million adolescent girls aged 15–19 years in Pakistan, 6 million reside in the province of Punjab. About 37 percent of these girls are neither at school, nor employed for pay or profit, and they have not yet made the transition to marriage. The study was conducted in nine urban and rural communities in three districts (Kasur, Rajanpur and Faisalabad) of Punjab province to examine the lives, aspirations, and perspectives of the largely invisible and marginalized group of older adolescent girls (ages 15–19 years) who are “not in education, employment for pay or profit, nor in marriage” (“NEEM”). The study seeks to identify the reasons for the exclusion of the NEEM girls from education and participation in paid work; explore opportunities and avenues for changing these girls’ existing opportunity structures; and probe the gender norms and behaviors underlying their marginalization to obtain insights into what it would take to change their situation. The study is mainly qualitative, based on 40 focus group discussions conducted separately with NEEM girls and their mothers and fathers, 40 in-depth interviews with NEEM girls and 9 informal interviews with potential employers. In addition, secondary data has been analyzed to build a picture of the life trajectories of older adolescents (ages 15–19 years) in each of the three districts, including segmentation by gender, urban-rural residence, and wealth index status. About 232 adolescent girls, 180 mothers, and 9 local employers participated in these exchanges.