Social Marketing and Women Empowerment: Impact of Social Welfare Programs on Women Empowerment and Economic Wellbeing

Authors

  • Ali Mehdi Shah Abdul Latif University, Khairpur, Pakistan Author
  • Syed Muneer Ahmed Shah Shah Abdul Latif University, Khairpur, Pakistan. Author
  • Nazar Hussain Phulpoto Shah Abdul Latif University, Khairpur, Pakistan. Author
  • Shaista Khan Korai Shah Abdul Latif University, Khairpur, Pakistan. Author
  • Asadullah Kehar Shah Abdul Latif University, Khairpur, Pakistan. Author

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.52633/jms.v4i1.168

Keywords:

Benazir Income Support Program (BISP), Living Standards, Poverty Alleviation Strategy, Social Security, Social Welfare, Women Empowerment, Social Marketing

Abstract

Women empowerment is crucial for a society to have a knowledge-based society wherein the personal growth of women will decisively contribute to individual families, thereby contributing to the society and the country as a whole. Social Marketing is a rising trend and a powerful channel for discussing women's empowerment. This study attempts to examine the impact of the Benazir Income Support Program (BISP) on women's empowerment in Pakistan. BISP is one of the rigorous social welfare programs initiated by the government of Pakistan. The program was initiated to empower economically deprived women. It provides social security, improves living standards, and reduces poverty. To gather the data, a sample of 300 respondents was utilized from Khairpur, Pakistan. The study carried out quantitative techniques to measure the impact of BISP on women's empowerment, thus, for this, regression analysis was conducted, and the association between the variables was explained through Pearson correlation. Furthermore, the questionnaire was designed and distributed among BISP beneficiaries to understand its effect. Hypotheses were tested and validated through statistical analysis.  The findings of the study recommend that there is a positive and significant impact of BISP on women's empowerment and it has a strong correlation with women's empowerment. In this study, the prediction of living standards through this program contributed 35%, poverty alleviation strategy 29% and social security contributed 24%. In this regard, it is ensured that the government of Pakistan may take more similarly effective initiatives to empower not only women but without gender discrimination to empower communities at large.

Author Biographies

  • Ali Mehdi, Shah Abdul Latif University, Khairpur, Pakistan

    Department of Public Administration, Shah Abdul Latif University, Khairpur, Pakistan

  • Syed Muneer Ahmed Shah, Shah Abdul Latif University, Khairpur, Pakistan.

    Department of Public Administration, Shah Abdul Latif University, Khairpur, Pakistan.

  • Nazar Hussain Phulpoto, Shah Abdul Latif University, Khairpur, Pakistan.

    Department of Public Administration, Shah Abdul Latif University, Khairpur, Pakistan.

  • Shaista Khan Korai, Shah Abdul Latif University, Khairpur, Pakistan.

    Department of Public Administration, Shah Abdul Latif University, Khairpur, Pakistan.

  • Asadullah Kehar, Shah Abdul Latif University, Khairpur, Pakistan.

    Institute of Computer Science, Shah Abdul Latif University, Khairpur, Pakistan.

References

Ahmad, M. F., Farid, S., Khan, S., & Hussain, S. (2021). Benazir Income Support Programme, Women Empowerment, Unconditional Cash Grant And Loan In Islam. A Case Study of Muzaffargarh. PalArch's Journal of Archaeology of Egypt/Egyptology, 18(4), 5248-5255.

Ahmad, W., Zahoor, A., Bibi, A., Dung, D. P., & Shah, B. (2017). The Effect of Benazir Income Support Program on Poverty Reduction: Case Study of the Two Villages in District Swat Pakistan. Science Arena Publications - Specialty Journal of Accounting and Economics, 3(4), 58-69.

Ambler, K., & De Brauw, A. (2017). The Impact of Cash Transfers on Women’s Empowerment: Learning from Pakistan’s BISP Program. World Bank. Accessible: http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/840271488779553030/pdf/113161-WP-P103160-PUBLIC-Social-Protection-Labor-no-1702.pdf.

Amrin, S., & Ashfaq, M. (2020). Impact of Benazir Income Support Program BISP on Household Food Expenditures in Faisalabad. Pakistan Journal of Agricultural Sciences, 57(1).

Bengali, K. (2019). The Making of Benazir Income Support Program. Pakistan Perspective, 24(1).

BSIP. (2010). Benazir Income Support Programme. Benazir Income Support Programme. Retrieved July 25, 2011, from https://www.bisp.gov.pk/

Chaudhary, I. S. (2003). An empirical analysis of the determinants of rural poverty in Pakistan: A case study of Bahawalpur district with special reference to Cholistan (Doctoral dissertation, Islamia University, Bahawalpur).

Chaudhry, I. S. (2009). Poverty alleviation in Southern Punjab (Pakistan): An empirical evidence from the project area of the Asian Development Bank. International Research Journal of Finance and Economics, 23(23), 23-32.

Chaudhry, I. S., Malik, S., & Ashraf, M. (2005). Poverty in Cholistan: profile and correlates. In 21st Annual General Meeting and Conference, Pakistan Society of Development Economists: Islamabad, 19th-21st December.

Chaudhry, I. S., Malik, S., & Imran, A. (2006). Urban poverty and governance: the case of Multan city. The Pakistan Development Review, 819-830.

Cheema, I., Hunt, S., Javeed, S., Lone, T., & O’Leary, S. (2016). Benazir income support programme: Final impact evaluation report. UK: Oxford Policy Management.

Federal Board of Statistics, Government of Pakistan. (2001). Poverty in the 1990s. Islamabad: The Author.

International Labour Organization. (2003). Working Out of Poverty. Report of the Director-General. International Labour Conference. 91st Session 2003. International Labour Organization.

Iqbal, N., & Akhtar, M. R. (2015). Statistical Evaluation, Measuring and Managing Poverty in Rural Pakistan. Pak. J. Statist, 31(6), 709-716.

Jaffri, Y. S. (1999). Assessing Poverty in Pakistan: In a Profile of Poverty in Pakistan. Centre for Human Development and United Nations Development Program, Islamabad.

Jalal, A. (2017). Targeting Performance and Short-Term Welfare Effects of Female Income Support Programs: Evidence from Pakistan. Unpublished Thesis: Department of Economics, Yale University, available at https://economics. yale. edu/sites/default/files/files/Undergraduate/Nominated% 20Senior% 20Essays/2016-17/Amen_Jalal Senior% 20Essay. pdf.

Kabeer, N. (2005). Gender equality and women's empowerment: A critical analysis of the third-millennium development goal 1. Gender & Development, 13(1), 13-24.

Kemal, A. R. (1995). Poverty alleviation in Pakistan: An evaluation of public strategies and policies adopted for poverty alleviation. Organized by the Institute of Policy Studies, Islamabad.

Khan, S. (2009). Poverty Reduction Efforts: Does Microcredit Help? SAIS Review of International Affairs, 29(2), 147–157. https://doi.org/10.1353/sais.0.0057

Krejcie, R. V., & Morgan, D. W. (1970). Determining Sample Size for Research Activities. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 30(3), 607–610. https://doi.org/10.1177/001316447003000308

Malik, S. (1996). Determinants of Rural Poverty in Pakistan: A Micro Study. The Pakistan Development Review, 35(2), 171–187. https://doi.org/10.30541/v35i2pp.171-187

Malik, Z. I. K., Kiran, S., & Alam, M. (2013). The role of Benazir income support program in poverty reduction: A case study of the selected villages in District Peshawar. City University Research Journal, 3(1), 35-45.

Memon, M. (2017). BISP progress during PML-N’s tenure, The News.

Memon, M. (2017). Empowering women through BISP, Express Tribune.

Ministry of Finance, Government of Pakistan. (2003). Accelerating economic growth & reducing poverty: The road ahead (Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper).

Naseer, Z., Hu, H., Yaseen, M., & Tariq, M. (2021). Rural women empowerment through social protection programs: A case of Benazir income support programme in Punjab, Pakistan. Journal of the Saudi Society of Agricultural Sciences, 20(2), 67–74. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jssas.2020.11.005

Nayab, D., & Farooq, S. (2014). Effectiveness of Cash Transfer Programmes for Household Welfare in Pakistan: The Case of the Benazir Income Support Programme. The Pakistan Development Review, 53(2), 145–174. https://doi.org/10.30541/v53i2pp.145-174

Panda, S. M. (2000). Women's empowerment through NGO interventions: A framework for assessment. Social Change, 30(3-4), 44-63.

Pasha, M. A. (2018). Benazir Income Support Programme (Bisp): Its Benefits and Implications. IBT Journal of Business Studies, 14(2), 198–208. https://doi.org/10.46745/ilma.jbs.2018.14.02.16

Pasha, M. A., Shah, P., & Rahpoto, M. S. (2018). Effectiveness of Benazir Income Support Program for Poverty Reduction. GMJACS, 8(2), 6-6.

Pasha, M., M., A., Shah, P., & Rahopota, S. (2019). Revisit Benazir Income Support Programme with Reference to the European Welfare Model and Its Impact on Society. The Government-Annual Research Journal of Political Science., 7(7).

Riaz, A. (N.D). Benazir Income support program (BISP). Academia.

Saeed, M. K., & Hayat, M. A. (2020). The Impact of Social Cash Transfers on Poverty in Pakistan-A Case Study of Benazir Income Support Programme.

Saleem, M. (2019). Evaluating political capture and targeting performance of the Benazir Income Support Program in Pakistan.

Ullah, R., Abbass, M. Y., & Khattak, A. (2015). Exploring the Role of Computerized National Identity Card (Citizens’ Registration Card) in Securing Women’s Property Rights in Pakistan. Abasyn Journal of Social Sciences, 8, 213-29.

Waqas, M., & Awan, M. S. (2018). Access to better health? The impact of the Benazir Income Support Programme in Pakistan. Asia Pacific Journal of Public Administration, 40(1), 74–81. https://doi.org/10.1080/23276665.2018.1448505

Wasif, S. (2017). Impact evaluation: BISP report shows a 7% decline in poverty, The Express Tribune.

World Bank. (2015). State of Social Safety Nets, 2015. Washington, DC: World Bank.

Downloads

Published

30-01-2022

How to Cite

Social Marketing and Women Empowerment: Impact of Social Welfare Programs on Women Empowerment and Economic Wellbeing. (2022). Journal of Marketing Strategies, 4(1), 59-72. https://doi.org/10.52633/jms.v4i1.168

Similar Articles

1-10 of 46

You may also start an advanced similarity search for this article.