Hidden figures: Unveiling the state of female unemployment in Bangladesh

Female employment in Bangladesh is mostly in vulnerable jobs, characterised by low productivity and poor returns. Photo: TBS

For decades, unemployment has remained a perennial problem for Bangladesh's economy. Over the past years, the economy has registered respectable growth rates, yet it has not been able to absorb the growing labour force. 

In recent times, the situation has gotten worse. With the economy showing a GDP growth rate of 3.97%, the slowest rate that the country has had over the past 34 years, and given the sluggishness of the growth in the agriculture and service sectors — which together account for nearly 83% of employment in the economy — the jobless situation in Bangladesh has become quite bad. 

Today, about 2.7 million people in Bangladesh are jobless and the unemployment rate in the country stands at nearly 5%. During the first half of the ongoing fiscal year, more than 2 million jobs were lost.

And the situation with female joblessness is worse. Even though the official figures show the female labour force participation rate to be 41%, in reality, it has been found to be around 19%. 

This means that only 19 out of every 100 women attempt to engage in economic activities, though not all of them secure jobs. 

In the sectoral breakdown, agriculture accounts for 44% and services account for 38% of the total employment in Bangladesh. 

Of the agricultural workers, 26% are women, compared to 19% for men. With regard to the service sector, the comparable figures are 35% and 66%, respectively. Women's participation in industrial employment is quite minimal. 

In Bangladesh, the actual unemployment rate for women has been found to be nearly 10%, far higher than the official figure of 4%. Among young women, the unemployment rate exceeds 22%. 

It goes without saying that because of the way the phenomenon of unemployment is defined and enumerated, the official unemployment figures are underestimations of the real situation on the ground, and thus, the actual joblessness of women in the Bangladesh economy is much higher than the official figure.  

Overseas employment for Bangladeshi women has declined significantly — from more than 8,000 in 2022 to less than 5,000 so far this year. About two-thirds of young women are not in employment, education and training and thus are classified as NEET. 

Furthermore, female employment in Bangladesh is mostly in vulnerable jobs, characterised by low productivity and poor returns. In the first half of the ongoing fiscal year, women accounted for about 86% of job losses. 

Of the women in employment, 81% hold vulnerable jobs. Thus, employment conditions for women remain fragile. Only 3% of the women employed receive pensions or retirement benefits through their employers. 

What is driving higher female unemployment? 

In Bangladesh, women's joblessness is due to many factors — some are economic, some are social and some cultural. For example, social and cultural norms dictate that women will be working within the household. Therefore, it is no wonder that in agriculture, 80% of the post-harvest work is done by women. 

Furthermore, as landownership is biased against women, they are not engaged in direct crop-growing activities either as owner-cultivators or share-croppers. Because of the traditional notion that women should work within households, it is also in the cottage industries where women are engaged more. 

Socio-cultural norms have pushed women to all sorts of unpaid care work within the households. These works are not valued in the national income accounts. Thus, women bear a disproportionate burden of unpaid care work, limiting their paid employment opportunities. 

Women are also involved in self-employment, but mostly in low productive and poorly paid informal sectors. These activities are also vulnerable to shocks. As a result, women also bear a disproportionate burden when the labour market experiences economic, financial shocks and other kinds of disasters. 

Also, for self-employed women, one major constraint is access to credit. The formal banking system is not keen to provide credit, because their creditworthiness is undervalued. 

Women are also disadvantaged in the job market because of their limited access to information and communication technology (ICT). 

In Bangladesh, while 86% of the males are mobile phone owners, the corresponding number for women is 61%. Only 16% of females use mobile internet, which is less than half of that of men at 33%. 

In terms of building capabilities of women for better jobs, while Bangladesh boasts of more girls passing secondary and higher secondary studies, only 8% of them end up enrolling in science departments, with less than 2% in engineering and technology. 

Therefore, women in general are not part of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics). But these are the skills needed in the current and the future world of work.

How to remedy female joblessness

One fundamental question is then what can be done to tackle the problem of female joblessness in Bangladesh. A few initial observations may be pertinent to answer this question. 

First, women's joblessness cannot be handled on a piece-meal basis, it requires a comprehensive holistic approach. 

Female joblessness has its roots in economic, social and cultural causes. So, dealing with this problem would require measures in every sphere. 

Plans for addressing female unemployment also need to be aligned and integrated into the overall planning framework of the country. In the context, the following policy measures can be critical in lowering joblessness among women in Bangladesh.

There must be an expansion of women's education. This is needed not only for expanding capabilities of women, but also for enhancing the social awareness about the importance of female education and jobs. 

Enhancing women's education should prioritise two specific issues: the inclusion of more girls and women in STEM and also relevant training for sharpening their skills and knowledge, and making them up to date. One particular aspect of that training can be skills development of women who would be sent overseas for work. In that context, learning of relevant languages is also a priority.

Moreover, a drive to expand job opportunities for women needs to be taken. It would require adequate incentive packages for them, not only in terms of salaries and terms of employment, but also in terms of providing support to them in such areas as maternity leaves and child care facilities at places of work. 

The issue of safety for women in transport and at workplaces must be prioritised. Women workers must be provided equitable treatment in work-related and non-work areas and should not be discriminated against in any way. Scopes for overseas employment opportunities must be explored in a comprehensive way. 

Additionally, an environment for better self-employment should be created for women. It would require special credit facilities for them, implementing a proper legal and regulatory framework for the informal sector, and ensuring women's rights to land. Easy access of women to relevant technology and other factors of production can also boost women-owned and operated establishments. 

In that context, numerical literacy and familiarity with budgeting and accounting procedures would be a great help to women entrepreneurs. At the macro level, a gender responsive budgeting may help to get resources to women, who are engaged in self-employment.

Proper measures must be taken to reduce the discrimination in employment. Women should not be the last one to be hired and the first one to be fired. There needs to be a proper safety framework for protecting their jobs, including their job protections during times of economic shocks. Their career development paths must not be compromised because of maternity leaves. Similarly, women employees must have the benefits of pension schemes and retirement plans just like their male counterparts.  

The gender gap in the digital economy must be closed by providing women with the tools, skills and support they need to succeed. In this respect, it is not enough to make the hardware and software of the digital facilities available to women, but it is also necessary to remove the stigma regarding the engagement of women in ICT. Removing barriers to connectivity and equipping women and girls with the skills needed to succeed in the digital age is a must. 

Disaggregated data should be generated and monitored in various aspects of women's employment — both self-employment and waged employment. For example, data on how much of the formal banking credit goes to women entrepreneurs have significant implications for policy-making. And the unpaid contribution of women to the national economy must be recognised and enumerated in national income accounts. 

Finally, there are several social and cultural norms which operate against women's work, particularly outside of home, their access to ICT and so on. There is no doubt that patriarchal culture plays a strong role in determining these phenomena. Social education and social movements can be used to overcome these non-economic constraints. 

Dr Selim Jahan is the former director of the Human Development Report Office and Poverty Division at UNDP, New York.