Social protection and climate resilience among informal workers in Pakistan: a qualitative study of the Benazir income support programme in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
7 affiliations
- 1Institute of Public Health and Social Sciences, Khyber Medical University, Peshawar, Pakistan. [email protected].
- 2Department of Health Sciences, University of York, York, UK. [email protected].
- 3Institute of Public Health and Social Sciences, Khyber Medical University, Peshawar, Pakistan.
- 4Institute of Population Health, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK.
- 5College of Medicine, King Khalid University, Abha, Saudi Arabia.
- 6Institute of Health and Wellbeing, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK.
- 7Department of Health Sciences, University of York, York, UK.
Abstract
Background
Informal sector workers in low- and middle-income countries are disproportionately vulnerable to climate shocks due to precarious livelihoods, limited social protection, and structural inequities. In Pakistan, the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) and one-time cash grants are the primary safety nets, yet their contribution to climate resilience remains underexplored. This study explored how BISP and emergency cash assistance shape the dimensions of climate resilience among informal sector workers in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, with particular attention to access barriers, gendered power relations, informal coping strategies, and climate sensitivity of programme design.Methods
A qualitative phenomenological design was applied between April and June 2025 across three climatic zones of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa: north, central and south. A multistage purposive sampling strategy was used to ensure diversity across geography, occupation, gender and urban-rural residence. Thirty in-depth interviews were conducted with informal workers aged 18 years and above who had been directly affected by a climate shock in the past five years. Six focus group discussions were also conducted with 36 institutional stakeholders from social protection, disaster management, health and local government sectors. Data were collected in Pashto and Urdu, transcribed, translated into English and analysed using qualitative thematic analysis within a descriptive phenomenological orientation.Results
Thematic analysis identified five themes and ten sub-themes: (1) Inadequate and inflexible financial support (static assistance amid dynamic crises; debt, instability, and recovery fatigue); (2) Barriers to accessing social protection (digital gaps and bureaucratic complexity; cultural and logistical barriers); (3) Gendered constraints and local power structures (aid without autonomy; gatekeeping and informal exploitation); (4) Everyday adaptation and informal resilience (social networks and mutual aid; flexible routines and low-tech innovations); and (5) Towards responsive and climate-sensitive aid (disaster-specific, localised relief; early warning and infrastructure gaps).Conclusions
Pakistan's social protection systems provide critical but limited relief against climate shocks for informal workers. To build long-term resilience, reforms are required to make these systems climate-sensitive, adaptive, and gender-transformative. The findings offer policy lessons for other LMICs seeking to strengthen social protection as a pathway to climate resilience.
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BibTeX
@article{khattak2026social,
title = {{Social protection and climate resilience among informal workers in Pakistan: a qualitative study of the Benazir income support programme in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.}},
author = {Maria Ishaq Khattak and Saad Ishaq Khattak and Hafiza Sumayya Shaukat and Syeda Saira Bokhari and Khalid Rehman and Nauman Arif and Abdullah Alsabaani and Zia Ul Haq and Hannah Maria Jennings},
journal = {BMC public health},
year = {2026},
month = jul,
doi = {10.1186/s12889-026-28367-0},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42928157},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Social protection and climate resilience among informal workers in Pakistan: a qualitative study of the Benazir income support programme in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
AU - Maria Ishaq Khattak
AU - Saad Ishaq Khattak
AU - Hafiza Sumayya Shaukat
AU - Syeda Saira Bokhari
AU - Khalid Rehman
AU - Nauman Arif
AU - Abdullah Alsabaani
AU - Zia Ul Haq
AU - Hannah Maria Jennings
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/07/29
JO - BMC public health
DO - 10.1186/s12889-026-28367-0
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42928157
AB - Background Informal sector workers in low- and middle-income countries are disproportionately vulnerable to climate shocks due to precarious livelihoods, limited social protection, and structural inequities. In Pakistan, the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) and one-time cash grants are the primary safety nets, yet their contribution to climate resilience remains underexplored. This study explored how BISP and emergency cash assistance shape the dimensions of climate resilience among informal sector workers in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, with particular attention to access barriers, gendered power relations, informal coping strategies, and climate sensitivity of programme design.Methods A qualitative phenomenological design was applied between April and June 2025 across three climatic zones of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa: north, central and south. A multistage purposive sampling strategy was used to ensure diversity across geography, occupation, gender and urban-rural residence. Thirty in-depth interviews were conducted with informal workers aged 18 years and above who had been directly affected by a climate shock in the past five years. Six focus group discussions were also conducted with 36 institutional stakeholders from social protection, disaster management, health and local government sectors. Data were collected in Pashto and Urdu, transcribed, translated into English and analysed using qualitative thematic analysis within a descriptive phenomenological orientation.Results Thematic analysis identified five themes and ten sub-themes: (1) Inadequate and inflexible financial support (static assistance amid dynamic crises; debt, instability, and recovery fatigue); (2) Barriers to accessing social protection (digital gaps and bureaucratic complexity; cultural and logistical barriers); (3) Gendered constraints and local power structures (aid without autonomy; gatekeeping and informal exploitation); (4) Everyday adaptation and informal resilience (social networks and mutual aid; flexible routines and low-tech innovations); and (5) Towards responsive and climate-sensitive aid (disaster-specific, localised relief; early warning and infrastructure gaps).Conclusions Pakistan's social protection systems provide critical but limited relief against climate shocks for informal workers. To build long-term resilience, reforms are required to make these systems climate-sensitive, adaptive, and gender-transformative. The findings offer policy lessons for other LMICs seeking to strengthen social protection as a pathway to climate resilience.
SN - 1471-2458
ER -