Overall, 84 percent of Pakistani households are food secure, 14 percent reported moderate food insecurity, and two percent reported severe food insecurity as revealed by the Social and Living Standards Measurement (PSLM) Survey of the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).
The survey showed that Balochistan has the highest prevalence of moderate and severe insecurity at 23 percent, while Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) had the lowest of the same at 14 percent.
It also showed that during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, the same module had been used by PBS in a special survey for the evaluation of its socio-economic impact, and had shown the experience of 40 percent of households to have either moderate or severe food insecurity (30 percent moderate and 10 percent severe).
In the education sector, the Literacy Rate for 10 years and above remained stagnant at 60 percent in the PSLM 2019-20 as compared to the PSLM 2014-15. Moreover, Sindh has had a declining trend in its literacy rates.
Similarly, the net enrolments at the primary, middle, and Matriculation levels in the provinces have either remained stagnant or shown decreasing trends. Enrolments at all the levels are the highest in Punjab, followed by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), Sindh, and Balochistan (lowest).
A total of 32 percent of children between the ages of five and sixteen are currently out of school. The highest percentage of such children is in Balochistan (47 percent) and the lowest is in Punjab (26 percent).
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Rajanpur in the Punjab, Thatta in Sindh, Kohistan and Bajur in KP, and Harnai, Qillah Abdullah, and Ziarat in Balochistan are the lowest ranking districts in Education. The indicators within their provinces percentages are higher in the urban areas than in the rural areas at 51 percent and 24 percent respectively.
All the health indicators covered in the PSLM 2019-20 survey showed an improving trend as compared to the PSLM 2014-15. Full Immunization based on records of children aged 12-23 months increased significantly from 60 percent in 2014-15 to 70 percent in 2019-20, and all the provinces have shown increasing trends of the same.
Prenatal care among women between the ages of 15 and 49 years has significantly increased to 77 percent in the PSLM 2019-20, as compared to 73 percent in the PSLM 2014-15.
Regarding mother and child health in the health sector, another encouraging figure is the percentage of deliveries assisted by skilled birth attendants all over Pakistan at an upward trajectory with 68 percent in 2019-20, as compared to 58 percent in 2014-15. However, regarding the health indicators, it also showed that there is stark difference in the districts within the provinces.
The survey results for Information Communication and Technology (ICT) indicate that overall, 12 percent of households own computers, laptops, etc.
Nearly 93 percent own mobile phones, and 33 percent have internet access, with percentages being higher in the urban areas than in the rural areas at 51 percent and 24 percent respectively. Overall 45 percent of individuals who are 10 years and older own mobile phones, and 19 percent use the internet facility. However, there are large gender differences in both the indicators — 65 percent of males own mobile phones against 25 percent of females, and 24 percent of males use the internet as compared to only 14 percent females.
The Housing results reveal that there are large gaps in the urban and rural areas and within the provinces in almost all indicators. A total of 72 percent of households have improved material used for roofs and walls.
Overall, almost 96 percent of Pakistani households use electricity for lighting (91 percent have electricity supply and, five percent have solar panels installed for lighting).
A total of 48 percent of households use gas as their main fuel for cooking, while only 37 percent use clean fuel for lighting, cooking, and heating. Similarly, 94 percent of households use improved water facilities for drinking water (which includes Piped Water, Motor Pump, Hand Pump, Protected Well, Protected Spring, Bottle Water, Tanker/Water Bearer). Furthermore, 68 percent have access to a toilet facility that is not shared with others.
Regarding migration, the PSLM survey found that around six percent of the population reported that they do not reside at their place of birth. It is pertinent to mention here that in all the provinces, there is more intra-province migration (either from one district to another district within the same province, or from rural to urban areas) than inter-province migration.
The same trend was observed in the capitals of the provinces as 13.24 percent of the population in Lahore had reported within-province migration as compared to only two percent from the other provinces.
It was found that among six districts of Karachi, Karachi East has the highest percentage of the population — at around 11 percent — that has migrated from within Sindh, followed by Karachi Central and Malir. Karachi South has reported the highest percentage — percent of the population — that has migrated from other provinces, followed by Karachi East and Karachi Central.
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In Peshawar, the trend is more of intra-province migration rather than inter-province migration. However, in Quetta, both inter-province and intra-province migrations are of almost the same levels.
The PSLM Survey showed that 3.4 percent of Pakistan’s population is disabled and either cannot do activities at all, or faces a lot of difficulties in performing basic functions like seeing, hearing, walking, etc. Meanwhile, 7.3 percent of the population reported some difficulties in performing their basic functions.
The PSLM 2019-20 Survey has been completed successfully with a sample of 6,500 blocks and 195,000 households. This survey provides detailed outcome indicators at the district level, with urban/rural breakdown on Education, Health, Housing, Water Sanitation and Hygiene, along with the provision of information for the first time on ICT, Food Insecurity Experience Scale (FIES), Disability, and Migration up to the district level.
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