Poverty & Unemployment: The Fate of Female Breadwinners Under Taliban Work Bans

Female breadwinners in Afghanistan report catastrophic hardships under Taliban restrictions barring women from work and blocking humanitarian aid. Many, widowed by decades of war, now endure hunger, unemployment, and the Taliban’s diversion of aid to loyalist regions.

• Shakila (pseudonym), Herat: “I work day and night breaking pistachios, but my children sleep hungry. In four years, the Taliban gave me just one sack of flour.”
• Mehri (pseudonym), Kabul: “I used to earn 20,000 AFN monthly. Now, I’m jobless. I won’t raise my children on charity or haram money.”
• Sanober (pseudonym): “My husband is sick. We have no home, no income. Our lives are unbearable.”

Aid Hijacked, Rights Erased:
The Taliban’s Ministry for Martyrs and Disabled allocated 12 billion AFN (equivalent to three ministries’ budgets) to families of suicide bombers while blocking aid to female-led households. A U.S. SIGAR report confirms the Taliban redirect aid to loyalist areas, starving opposition regions.

Systemic Suppression:
Beyond work bans, the Taliban have barred girls from education beyond sixth grade, banned women’s voices in media, and criminalized Quran recitation by women. Female beggars in Kabul cite extreme poverty as their only driver.