Who benefits from public education spending in Pakistan? Evidence from income and language benefit incidence analysis

Abstract

Equity in public education spending is commonly assessed through income-based measures, potentially overlooking other dimensions along which educational participation and public benefits vary. This study extends conventional benefit incidence analysis (BIA) by examining the distribution of public education spending (PES) in Pakistan across the intersection of income and language. The analysis draws on data from the Household Integrated Economic Survey, federal and provincial Annual Budget Statements, UNESCO’s World Inequality Database on Education and the Pakistan Population Census 2017. The findings reveal differences in benefit incidence across income-language groups and educational levels. Poorer groups receive relatively larger shares of PES at the primary level, whereas better-off groups become increasingly represented among beneficiaries at secondary and higher levels. Considerable variation is also observed across linguistic groups, with several communities comparatively underrepresented at higher stages of education. These patterns show that income alone provides an incomplete account of the distribution of public educational benefits in Pakistan. As a descriptive framework, BIA identifies these distributional disparities without establishing their underlying causal mechanisms. By incorporating language alongside income, the study broadens conventional assessments of educational equity and offers a more differentiated account of who benefits from PES in multilingual societies.