Published on Daily Sun
During the last 40 years of Bangladesh’s existence the country has made achievement on several grounds. For example, in the early 1970s per capita income of Bangladesh was USD110 and population living below the poverty line was more than 80 percent. With an annual average growth of the gross domestic product (GDP) of 4 percent during 1973-78 the country was lagging behind not only economically but also socially.
At present the annual average GDP growth has gone up to 6.7 percent. The latest Household Income and Expenditure Survey reveals that population below poverty line has reduced to 31.5 percent in 2010 and life expectancy has increased to 68.9 years in 2011 from only 46.2 years in 1974. Per capita annual income is projected to be USD 818 in 2011. These are only a few to list. There are many more achievements. However, the most remarkable change that has occurred during this period is the empowerment of women.
One of the reasons for such positive changes is because of women’s participation in the labour market at a higher rate than before. Over the years, women’s employment has increased substantially, both in rural and urban areas, from 8.4 percent in 1983 to 24.5 percent in 2009. This is not only true in case of export oriented Ready Made Garments (RMG) sector but also for many non-traditional and emerging sectors, such as hotel and restaurants, transport, real estate services, telecommunications, and banking and insurance. However, the participation of women in the service sector of Bangladesh has begun during the last one decade or so, the numbers are still low but growing faster. This is because there is a growing demand for female labour. The reason for such increased demand is that mind matters more than muscle. That is, an intelligent mind is more important to employers than physical strength.
With increased access to higher education the prospect for getting into high valued job market has expanded for women in Bangladesh. Of course the progress has not been uniform in all sectors. And the scenario is not all that rosy in all cases. There is also discordant within the sector. Till today, we do not see as many women at the top position as we want to see. The aspiration of Bangladeshi women to be at the leadership position of their organisations they work for has not been matched by the actual numbers on the ground. The first and the overarching reason is that there are not many women who are at the decision making level at offices and in politics. Second, though the number of educated women has increased over time, the rate of highly educated women is not high as yet compared to men. Up to the SSC level women’s educational attainment is higher than men. However, it starts to decline afterwards and the percentage of highly educated and skilled working women is very small. Only 1.39 percent female labour force have post graduate degree compared to total female work force. Third, the participation rate of women in the labour market itself is still lower than men; the male-female ratio of employment is about 3:1. Also, the unemployment rate is significantly higher for women: 7.5 percent of women are unemployed while 4.3 percent of men are unemployed. Fourth, women are engaged in low paid jobs compared to men. On average women earn only 70 percent of what men earn. The low share of women’s income compared to men on average is partly due to women’s involvement in the informal sector to a greater extent. Informal sector comprises the major share of female employment which is about 85.69 percent.
Incidentally, the under-representation of women in decision making jobs is not only a problem in Bangladesh. It is a global phenomenon. In the USA and in the UK the typical full time worker earns only about 80 percent as much as the typical male. True that such disparity is also due to a mix of social and cultural situation. Because of the reproductive role we are mostly forced to choose between motherhood and careers. In many advanced countries women have abandoned motherhood, even marriage to be at par with men in the job market. That is not, however, neither a practical nor a feasible solution for human civilisation.