Women - Bangladesh's invisible producers:

Unrecognised, Unvalued and Unsupported

Rural Bangladesh depends on its women for survival.

Its children and families are fed, clothed and sheltered by the labor of women. Its water and fuel are gathered by the hands of women. Its family farms and rural economy are productive because of women's work.

Yet, when men are asked, they say women do nothing at all.

Because of women's low social status, their work goes unacknowledged, unvalued and unsupported.

Women carry a triple burden. They make indispensable contributions in all areas of rural life and economic activity, particularly in agriculture, income-generating activities, and household maintenance.

Agriculture

• Women constitute 46 per cent of the farming population.
• In households with no or little land, 60-70 per cent of women work as agricultural wage laborers.

• Women in Bangladesh are instrumental in key areas of agriculture production. Bangladeshi women do:

• 73 per cent of the work of growing vegetables and spices
• 98 per cent of the poultry farming and 48 per cent of the cattle farming
• 89 per cent of the husking, drying and boiling

• 86 per cent of the processing and preservation.

Income-generating activities

• Women are critical income earners for the family. They engage in small business ventures including weaving, pottery, vegetable oil extraction, and fish farming.

• Women comprise between 80 -90 per cent of the workforce in garment manufacturing– Bangladesh’s largest export industry.
• Women contribute nearly half of the total work hours in sericulture - including silkworm and cocoon reeling
• Women comprise 53 per cent of the total employees in cottage industry, and 17 per cent in large scale industry.

Household maintenance

Women and girls have primary responsibility for all household work, and caring and providing for their families. They are traditionally responsible for water, fuel, and fodder (animal feed).

• Women hold full responsibility for cooking, cleaning, washing, and caring for children, the sick and the elderly.

• Cow dung is the largest source of tradition fuels in the unorganised sector. Women are responsible for all the work of dung collection.

• Women manufacture critical equipment within the home. They manufacture the clay stove they cook on, the bamboo tray they winnow with, and the mats they sit and sleep on.

• Women may cook for more than 3 hours per day, burning wood, dung and crop residues. The smoke they inhale is equivalent to smoking 20 packs of cigarettes per day. It causes eye and respiratory problems, bronchitis and lung cancer.

Unequal pay for Unequal Work

Despite their hard work, women are rarely compensated for their labors.

• In spite of their crucial contribution to family income generation, the average wage for women’s non-agricultural work stands at a mere 42 per cent of the average wage for men.

• Women share only 23.1 per cent of total earned income in the country.

• When women control their own income, they invest in the well-being of their children and families, while men often spend earnings on themselves.