Many women face an uphill battle while earning their livelihood, and most do not have access to the same opportunities enjoyed by men. This in turn is causing women to show less interest in joining the labour force or economic activities.
Bangladesh, a country where women account for half the population, is lagging behind in terms of women’s participation in the economy compared to the global standard. On the backdrop of this revelation, Bangladesh is observing the International Women’s Day 2024 today.
However, over the years, women’s participation in the country’s labour force and economic activities drastically increased and women-friendly work environment, in some cases, has improved in the last decade.
These positive changes came mostly from global buyers’ demand in the RMG sector, which is the top contributor in terms of exports and generating employment in Bangladesh.
This contribution of active women’s participation in the productive sector helps move the economy forward and facilitates growth, but there are still concerns about maintaining and increasing women’s participation in the labour force.
Only women’s unpaid domestic services, along with unpaid caregiving services for household and family members, accounted for 14.8 per cent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) in 2021, according to Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS).
And if their participation increases in the labour force, it will help boost the economy. A SANEM study found that in 2021, about $11.3 billion could have been generated additionally if women employment increased by 1 per cent.
However, there is still a huge gap in women’s participation in the labour force and eligible to work women.
The country’s Labour Force Survey 2022 showed that there are 2.578 crore women in the labour force, out of 6.028 crore working age women population – aged over 15, meaning 42.77 per cent of the total eligible women are in the labour force.
Women’s participation out of the eligible working women population was 36.05 per cent back in 2010.
And alarmingly, still there are 3.45 crore female population outside the labour force – representing most commonly women who are not interested in being employed, such as housewives.
Such population has significantly increased too over the years as overall population including men rose in the country as well.
An increase in education, improving work environment, enhancing leadership roles, and raising awareness among the household level helped boost the country's employed women count to 2.486 crore in 2022, up from 1.62 crore in 2010.
Though the country’s women participation in the labour force and employed women have increased when it compares with previous data posted in 2010, 2013, 2016, 2017 and earlier, it is not the same in recent times.
Between October and December last year, in the labour force, the unemployed female workers' count increased by 1.2 lakh to 7.8 lakh and the number of employed females was 2.46 crore, down from 2.53 crore a year earlier, shows the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) latest quarterly Labour Force Survey.
The total female population outside the labour force has also increased by 14.2 lakh to 3.55 crore during the period.
An increase of automation in the RMG sector, lack of technical skills, a lower participation ratio in higher and technical studies though their prospectus is high in terms of academia and practical field pose a threat in increasing women labour force and rising unemployment, experts claim.
Academically brilliant, reluctant to join workforce
A trend can be found when analysing the Household Income and Expenditure Survey (HIES) data and other socio-economic indicators.
According to HIES-2022, women’s literacy rate is 72.3 per cent, while men’s is 74 per cent. But in any competitive exams, women show their brilliance in results. Girls outperform far ahead of boys in SSC and HSC examinations.
Girls also had a higher pass rate in HSC for 14 consecutive years and in SSC for 7 consecutive years till 2023.
They are ahead of boys in achieving GPA 5 too, but their participation in the information and technology sector is only 27.25 per cent, and in science, mathematics and statistics is a nominal 14.92 per cent, according to the latest Global Gender Gap Report.
Family and peer pressure relating to marriage and household chores, lack of decision making power, and comparatively lower income to maintain nutritious food and health issues have caused the number of women to decline from practical and academic fields.
However, the HIES-2016 data shows that incidents of poverty are lower when the household head is female compared to male-headed families. The female-led household was 19.9 per cent in the upper poverty line, while male-led was 24.8 per cent.
Female workers now account for 57 per cent of the garment sector's workforce, down from 80 per cent recorded previously, according to the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA).
BGMEA president Faruque Hassan said, “Many female workers are showing reluctance to continue their jobs after a certain age and they tend to return to their village, and a significant number started micro-level business through their savings.
“If awareness, education skills are provided to them, they will help contribute more in this sector. In this end, we are working in empowering women with different supervisory skill development training, promoting gender equality in factories as well as facilitating the enrolment of more qualified females.”
During Covid-19, when most families tackled economic strain, it led to an elevated number of women entrepreneurs who are also helping to ensure macroeconomic stability and combat ongoing economic headwinds.
Besides, women entrepreneurs are contributing significant progress to the economy.
Nasima Akter Nisha, president of the Women and E-commerce (WE) Forum, told The Business Post, “During the Covid-19 pandemic, most families fell into a major financial crisis, and women members, especially 20-30 year olds, rose up to support them.
“Our survey found that most of the women got involved in e-commerce and agriculture sectors amid the pandemic. But when the pandemic situation eased, urban women returned to their regular family duty but rural women remained involved in the business.”
Our survey also found that many families left the cities after the family heads lost their jobs. Now the families are struggling to survive in the rural areas and their women members are supporting them, said Nisha, who leads an association of 4 lakh women entrepreneurs.
She added, “Many women have set up small factories, many are involved in farming, and many are working as day labourers. But participation in the city areas has reduced due to a lack of work opportunities.”
