Pakistan lowers age limit for female domestic workers to boost global Job market access

The Pakistani government has approved a key amendment to the Emigration Rules, 1979, lowering the minimum age limit for women seeking employment abroad as domestic workers from 35 to 25 years.

A document seen by Nukta shows that the Cabinet Committee for Disposal of Legislative Cases (CCLC) approved a summary from the Ministry of Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development, which flagged Pakistan’s outdated regulations compared to regional competitors like Bangladesh, India, the Philippines, and Sri Lanka.

Most of these countries allow female domestic workers to migrate as early as 21 to 30 years, making Pakistan’s previous threshold a limiting factor in its global competitiveness.

According to details, the existing rule (25)(2)(4) of Emigration rules, 1979 prescribed the minimum age for employment of women as maid sersante at 35 (thirty-five) years, with some relaxations in special cases. However, this threshold was higher than regional competitors like Bangladesh (25 years), Philippines (25 years) for Kuwait while for KSA age shall bear least 30 years), Sri Lanka (25 years for KSA) (23 years for other 07 Middle East countries), (21 years for Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Cyprus, and other countries), and India (30 years). Further, according to the Laws of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, a key destination country, recruiting or employing a worker under the age of 21 is prohibited.

According to the International Labor Organization (ILO), there are 11.5 million migrant domestic workers globally and 73% of whom are women. With high demand in regions like the Arab states, North America, and Europe (collectively employing over 52% of these workers), aligning Pakistan’s regulations with international norms is expected to open up significant employment avenues for Pakistani women.

The revised rule is expected to streamline lawful manpower export, reduce market entry barriers, and potentially boost annual remittance inflows by an estimated $1 billion.

Initially, the Oversea Ministry proposed reducing the age to 28, but after thorough deliberation and comparison with international standards, the CCLC recommended a more competitive threshold of 25 years. All previous age relaxation clauses will now be rendered obsolete under this amendment.

This landmark decision signals Pakistan’s proactive approach to empowering its labor force, particularly women, while strengthening its footprint in the global domestic labor market.