Twice as many young women as men not in education or employment: BBS report

The number of women aged 15-24 who are 'Not in Education, Employment, or Training (NEET)' is more than double that of their male counterparts, according to a recent survey by the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS).

The "Report on Socio-Economic and Demographic Survey 2023" published today (5 June) stated that at a national level, 26.94% of women fall into the NEET category, compared to just 10.31% of men in the same age group.

The survey defines NEET individuals as those who were not studying, not engaged in any work for at least one hour in the seven days prior to the survey and had not received any vocational training in the twelve months preceding the survey.

Despite being economically advanced, Dhaka and Chattogram divisions were the most deprived of education, employment and training opportunities for women with Dhaka having the highest NEET population among women, 30.03%, followed by 28.10% in Chattogram, according to the BBS survey.

The rest of the country had a women NEET population of over 22%. 

In contrast, the NEET rate among men was highest in Sylhet at 15.40%, followed by Chattogram (13.43%), Dhaka (10.85%), and Mymensingh (10.61%). The NEET rate for men was below 10% in Khulna, Rangpur, Rajshahi, and Barishal. 

On a national level, the survey found that the NEET population, both men and women, was highest in Dhaka (21.17%) and Chattogram (21.07%), with the lowest rates in Rangpur (14.20%) and Rajshahi (15.02%).

Talking to The Business Standard, Mustafa Kamal Mujeri, executive director of the Institute for Inclusive Finance and Development (InM), emphasised the gender disparity, stating, "Women in our country are still being deprived of education, employment, and training opportunities compared to men. Real development cannot be achieved by leaving women behind.

"It is also true that only infrastructural development is not development. If there is no development of education, health, or human resources, there will be no sustainable development."

He further said, "Our country's development is concentrated in Dhaka and Chattogram. However, these two divisions also have the highest NEET populations. It appears that people from various regions flock to these developed areas, which highlights regional disparities within the country."

"To ensure balanced development, it is essential to improve employment opportunities equally across all divisions and provide training for everyone," he added.

The BBS survey also provided insights into the country's labour force participation. It said the overall participation rate for those aged 10 and above was 57.41%, with men at 73.75% and women at 41.41%. 

Rajshahi had the highest labour force participation at 61.11%, while Sylhet had the lowest at 51.37%. 

The national employment rate stands at 96.70%, slightly higher for women (97.21%) than for men (96.41%). Rajshahi again leads with a 97.46% employment rate, while Sylhet lags at 95.90%. 

The national unemployment rate is 3.30%, with higher urban (4.48%) than rural (2.76%) rates, the survey stated, adding that the unemployment rate among males was 3.59% and 2.79% for women nationally.

Of the total employed population, agriculture employs the highest percentage of the workforce (43.89%), followed by the service sector (37.04%) and industry (19.07%). 

Among women, 59.36% work in agriculture, 26.59% in services, and 14.06% in industry. 

The report also notes that 36.87% of employed populations maintain written accounts, predominantly in urban areas (56.59%), compared to rural areas (26.37%). Meanwhile, 33.15% keep accounts orally, and 29.24% do not maintain any systematic accounts.