As RMG industry evolves, will Bangladesh lose its success in female employment?

Bangladesh's success in female labour force participation over the last three decades has been a cause for envy among South Asian neighbours. In fact, among least developed and developing countries, the percentage of female workers of the total Bangladeshi workplace is something that stands out as an anomaly.

In a recent article titled 'Why has female labour force participation risen in Bangladesh but fallen in India?' Alice Evans, a University of Cambridge academic, pointed out that Bangladesh's economy is able to generate more jobs than neighbouring India. 

Although poverty and patriarchy are both barriers to female labour force growth in these two countries, Alice Evans believes, India's lower female labour force participation also has to do with its caste system, which makes it especially difficult for women from minority communities to join the workforce. 

Female labour force participation rate (labour force participation rate for ages 15-24) in India has been decreasing since 2005, according to ILO. 

Bangladesh, of course, owes much of its success to the RMG sector, which has traditionally depended primarily on women as a workforce. Other reasons include growing microfinance support for rural women and easier loans for SMEs with women entrepreneurs. Also, more women are now working in the agriculture sector. 

From 2009 to 2019, female labour force participation in the country has increased. In 2009, female labour force participation rate (percentage of female population aged 15-64) was 31% according to ILO. In the years 2013 and 2014, the figure was 33%. In 2017, there was a sharp increase to 38% from 35% in 2016.  

The increase has remained somewhat stagnant from 2017 to 2019 (38%). 

"According to our labour force survey, female labour force participation has definitely increased in Bangladesh," said Research and Development Director of Bangladesh Institute of Labour Studies (BILS) Nazma Yasmeen. 

"Government and non-government agencies are both working on ensuring increasing higher engagement of women in the workforce. Students are given more stipends, more elderly citizens are being brought under the social safety net etc."  

Recent trends in female labour force participation, however, casts a dark shadow over what the future holds. From the 1990s, when the percentage of female workers in RMG was nearly 90%, the number has dropped to less than 60% in the last 10 years.  

According to Dr Sayema Haque Bidisha, Professor of Economics at Dhaka University, from 2016 or 2017, female labour force participation in the country has stagnated. With the decline of female workers in our RMG sector, there needs to be other similar, potential sectors conducive to high female employment.   

"What the current picture is, we do not know. But personally, I can say Covid-19 played a role in its [female labour force participation] disruption, issues such as child marriages increased during this period. Also, not a lot of jobs were created during the pandemic and the labour market is still a little contracted."   

After the Rana Plaza tragedy, the RMG sector received a blow and the newly imposed restrictions increased labour cost. Automation and increase in the number of male workers have also caused many female workers to become unemployed. 

Meanwhile, another new sector has not developed in place of RMG. 

"Considering the situation from 2016/2017, our RMG sector did experience good growth. More women are participating in the agriculture sector, but is that something significant? We do not know yet," she said.  

The professor said it is extremely important to figure out which categories are being considered while calculating female labour market participation in countries like Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka etc.  

"Inter country comparisons need to be done carefully. In many cases, women who other countries consider as workers, we may consider them as unpaid workers, and so on. Sometimes, these comparisons are difficult due to different classification of labour market and labour force data," she explained.

However, she opined that despite having a patriarchal and conservative social structure, Bangladesh is indeed doing better than a lot of other countries. 

"Women are getting more small loans and collateral. In areas such as Cumilla, where there are many remittance-dependent households, women are taking more responsibilities to earn."

On Bangladesh economy being able to generate more jobs for women, Dr Sayema Haque Bidisha said, "In the context of Bangladesh, I will not say our economy has generated more jobs for women. The RMG factories employed female workers for their own benefit (cheaper labour, although it is a term I do not like to use), which also turned out good for the female workers."

"In Bangladesh, the female labour force participation is high at the low end of income and the high end of income. Not in the middle. The lower end women left their homes and took up jobs when their situation demanded it. This is quite a positive thing, compared to India or other countries."    

Nazma Yasmeen believes the decline in female labour force participation in the RMG sector has to do with the lack of labour protections in the sector.

"As an activist, I will say, those who are leaving the RMG factories are older, more experienced," she says.  

"When we had jute mills in the country, the workers used to have housing quarters, schools for their children within the mill premises and in-house medical facility," she said, adding, "it is understandable why female RMG workers are leaving - because they do not have these. The community day care centres are also not that good. When a RMG worker becomes a mother, she has no place to keep the baby while she works. So, she leaves." 

Nazma Yasmeen added the state has to take the responsibility to provide female workers with day care, health and housing benefits so they do not leave their jobs.