Employment fell 4.4pc during 2000-05

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The overall employment rate has declined by 4.4 percent during the years 2000 to 2005, turning the employment situation in the country for the worse.

A study conducted during the period by Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS) also found that the lowest income group, with per capita income of Tk 2,119 in 2005, has been hit the hardest as the employment rate for this group has declined by 8.1 percent.

Income growth rate of the lowest 50 percent households was lower than that of the country’s consumer price index (CPI) during the same period, the survey said.

The study examined the growth of household income, employment and real wage over the period of 2000 to 2005 based on data from Household Income and Expenditure Survey (HIES) conducted by Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS).

The report said wage rate in agriculture was up by 27 percent while the rate saw a 19 percent increase in non-agriculture sector. Earnings from wage, however, did not increase proportionately as each worker’s daily work opportunity has declined. “Real wage in agriculture during this period has gone up, but real wage in non-agriculture [sector] did not rise — one of the reasons behind unemployment,” said Rushidan Islam Rahman, research director of BIDS, while disclosing the report at a seminar titled “Pro-poor growth and food security: Recent experience in Bangladesh”.

BIDS organised the seminar at Brac Centre Inn in Dhaka to mark its 50-year anniversary. Chaired by Mahabub Hossain, executive director of Brac, M Asaduzzaman and KAS Murshid, research directors of BIDS, also presented their reports on regional dimensions of several indicators for quality of life based on MDG (Millennium Development Goal) and globalisation, food security and bio-security.

In her presentation, Rushidan Islam Rahman said one of the major reasons for the worsening unemployment situation in the country is substantial decline in total employment in non-farm enterprises.

According to the report, employment per enterprise declined by 30 percent during the period.

The employment generation in the non-farm sector has declined due to substantial increase of enterprises expenditures, Rahman added.

“A pro-poor growth process must be initiated to accelerate income growth among the poor. The features of non-farm sectors, which are currently not pro-poor, should be reversed through appropriate incentive policies,” she observed.

On average, expenditure per enterprise to meet current costs in rent, transport and other utilities has risen from Tk 2.12 lakh in 2000 to Tk3.47 lakh in 2005, the report said.

The overall underemployment rate among male and female workers in 2005 reached 35.3 percent — up from 31.1 percent in 2000. Rise in underemployment rate is higher among men compared to women, the study found.

According to the report, underemployment rate of male workers was 28.8 percent in 2000. The rate increased to 34.2 percent in 2005. On the other hand, female workers’ underemployment rate reached 44.9 percent in 2005, which was 48.6 percent in 2000.

Persons who work less than 266 days a year are defined as underemployed by the study.

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