A recent survey has unveiled that the total amount of unpaid domestic work carried out by women in Bangladesh is equivalent to 10.75% of the gross domestic product (GDP) of the country.
The nation-wide survey, based estimate of women domestic work in Bangladesh was conducted by independent multidisciplinary research organization Unnayan Onneshan, in connection with the International Women’s Day, made the disclosure through a report released yesterday.
The total engagement of women domestic work was presumed to be equivalent to 9.3 million full-employments per year and the total unpaid work per year might be equivalent to Tk11,15,914.8 crore or $14.45 billion. The total GDP of Bangladesh was Tk1,037,990 crore in the FY 2012-13.
The survey was conducted in seven districts of seven administrative divisions and the number of households from each district was selected using Probability Proportional to Size (PPS) method. A total of 520 women, comprising 202 from rural and 318 from urban areas were chosen randomly and interviewed for the purpose.
The Unnayan Onneshan observes that the economic value of unpaid domestic work by women would have been much higher if the wages of women in Bangladesh were not comparatively low and the wage deferential between men and women was not so high.
“The percentage of the value of unpaid work in the share of GDP in Bangladesh remains low compared to other countries due to the lower wage structure in different occupations in Bangladesh,” added the organisation in a press release.
The survey also found women who were employed in different types of professional services spend at least 3.69 hours per day for household work.
To estimate the monetary value of the unpaid household work by women in the country, the survey used two recognised methods - the opportunity cost and the market replacement cost.
The opportunity cost method measured the amount what women would earn if they are employed as waged labourers instead of engaged in unpaid domestic work, while market replacement cost method was used to find out the amount based upon what it would have been spent to hire someone to carry out the work.
Referring to the rising share of women in the labour force as “feminisation of labour,” the Unnayan Onneshan said growing need and decline of familial support along with the ever-increasing pressures for sustenance had pushed women to engage in income generating activities, the press release said.
“Unless and until such realities are recognised and responded with appropriate policies, institutional structures and monetary instruments, it will be impossible for achieving real equality in the society,” the research opined.