Only 17 percent of women returning from Iran and Pakistan are earning an income, as structural barriers, lack of resources and restrictions on work sharply limit their economic prospects, according to a new report by UN Women.
“Fewer than one in five Afghan women returning from Iran and Pakistan can earn an income in Afghanistan,” UN Women said, warning that the situation is contributing to rising debt and food insecurity among returnee families.
The report underscores a broader pattern of economic collapse for women after return. “Only 17 percent of returnee women are working post-return,” UN Women said, adding that 77 percent of women returning from Iran and 64 percent from Pakistan who had worked abroad are now unemployed.
It also highlights a mismatch between skills and opportunities. “Approximately 39 percent of women report having unused skills,” UN Women said, pointing to a labor market unable to absorb even trained workers.
A lack of basic resources compounds the problem. “Seventy-seven percent lack any tools to earn income, and only nine percent have adequate tools,” UN Women said.
Income levels have also fallen sharply. The median monthly income for returnee women is about 1,100 Afghanis, or roughly $17, with 57 percent earning less than they did abroad and only 8 percent earning more, according to UN Women.
The report emphasizes that geography, rather than country of return, is the key factor shaping women’s economic prospects. Provincial restrictions and local market conditions determine whether women can work, with some areas offering relatively more flexibility than others.
Where work is available, it is largely confined to manufacturing and home-based production — including tailoring, handicrafts and food processing — sectors that remain accessible even to women without formal education, the agency said.
“Many women are skilled, motivated, and eager to work, but structural barriers push most into unemployment or low-paid, irregular home-based work,” UN Women said.
The findings come amid a surge in returns that has placed new pressure on Afghanistan’s fragile economy. “Since 2023, more than 5.5 million Afghans have returned,” UN Women said, noting that the influx has strained local labor markets and services.
Recent return trends show the scale of the shift. In 2025 alone, about 1.9 million Afghans returned from Iran, and more than 330,000 had already returned in 2026, many of them women coming from provinces such as Tehran, Fars and Sistan and Baluchistan, the report said.
On the Pakistan side, returnees are more likely to be undocumented and less educated, with nearly half of them women and girls. About 60 percent of returnees are under 18, and most women come from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan provinces, according to UN Women.
Despite these challenges, many women return with a wide range of skills developed abroad. Women returning from Iran often have vocational and semi-industrial experience in tailoring, embroidery, handicrafts and food processing, as well as exposure to machinery and formal workplaces, the report says.
Others bring skills in agriculture, cosmetics, health services, sales, digital work and content creation.
Women returning from Pakistan tend to have more mixed skill profiles, the report says. While many have limited formal education, others report experience in traditional production — including carpet-making, embroidery, tailoring and leatherwork — as well as agriculture and food preparation.
Yet those skills rarely translate into employment inside Afghanistan, where restrictions on women’s mobility and participation in public life, combined with weak markets and lack of capital, limit opportunities, the report finds.
“Afghan women returnees arrive under extremely difficult circumstances — often without assets, income or support networks,” UN Women said, quoting its Afghanistan representative, Susan Ferguson. “What they share is the need for access to livelihoods, services and opportunities to rebuild their lives with dignity.”
The agency called for increased investment in livelihood support, including tools, grants and market access, as well as the creation of safe workspaces for women and stronger economic networks.
