ABSTRACT

The current study aims to handle a critical gap in socioeconomic research by conducting a thorough investigation of disability effects on standard of living among rural and urban populations in Pakistan. Through PSLM 2019-20, this study aims to create a detailed analysis and targeted policy interventions considering rural-urban disability differences. The research bases its findings on the Social Model of Disability, the Capability Approach and Intersectionality theory to demonstrate that disability-related disadvantage in Pakistan results from social and structural barriers which exist in infrastructure, service delivery systems and societal norms. Households containing disabled members show a persistent decline in their Standard of Living (SoL) which amounts to 0.147 standard deviations below non-disabled households. Moreover, the penalty affects rural and urban areas but results in the greatest deprivation for disabled women living in rural areas. The domain level analysis in the study depicted that disabled households face major disadvantages in food security, digital connectivity, healthcare access, education and sanitation. This disadvantage was dominant in the rural regions where geographic barriers and gender discrimination creates additional obstacles to just inclusion.

The UNCRPD ratification by Pakistan and the progressive disability policies have not led to the fulfillment of legal commitments because social protection coverage remains limited and disability councils operate without enough funding and necessary data links to serve marginalized communities. In Pakistan, research demonstrates that environmental and social obstacles affect people more than their own individual characteristics. This research supports a complete system transformation through rights-based multisector reforms which include universal design integration in infrastructure, enhanced digital and rural connectivity, anti-discrimination enforcement, expanded social protection programs and disabled person’s active participation in governance. The research findings demonstrates that Pakistan needs to eliminate structural and institutional obstacles instead of just raising welfare payments to achieve social inclusion and sustainable  development  for  Persons  with  disabilities  (PWDs),  which  provides  a  practical framework for disability inclusion policies in developing nations.