Education and Female Labor Force Participation in Urban Punjab: Evidence from the 2024–25 Labor Force Survey

Purpose: In this study we examined does education improves the probability of employment for women and at which education level this impact becomes meaningful. Methodology: The Pakistan Labor force survey (2024-2025) cross sectional data was used with the sample size of 10,291 working aged women. Probit model's estimation was used to study the impact of different levels of education on the employment probability of women in Pakistan. Findings: Our findings reflected that there is a u-shaped relationship between female and labor force participation. Middle school education reduces the female participation in labor force by 8.3% and Matriculation by 10.2% compared to women with no formal education. The u-shaped curve then shows an upward trajectory at university level where bachelor's degree increases the employment probability by 4.3%, Postgraduate degree by 7.6% vocational training with a huge 17.5% placing it higher than bachelor's and postgraduate degree. The data also reflects that married women face a 4.6% participation penalty in the labor force. Implications: These results are robust across both model specifications and carry direct implications for how education and skills policy should be designed in urban Punjab.