Bangladesh's economy has grown by nearly 15 times since 1980 (World Bank) when the export-oriented RMG industry had started their journey.
It has contributed to a significant reduction in the number of people living below the poverty line.
The RMG sector has played a critical role in Bangladesh's economic development, currently employing about 4 million people and contributing about 10% to Bangladesh's GDP.
Today, it is undergoing a structural transformation alongside a changing global fashion industry.
The RMG industry is the only industry which significantly empowers females to participate in productive works in the national economy.
Most of those who are working in this industry are young energetic females who migrated from the rural areas.
The attractive employment opportunity has changed the traditional patriarchal hegemony of the fathers, brothers, and husbands.
Most of the working ladies can now make decisions about their life because they are now independent.
As they can send their younger brothers and sisters to schools, as a result, the literacy rate is increasing.
They can participate in family decision making and can support their family members.
Research on rural to urban migration of women and their changing livelihood pattern after joining the RMG industry, analyzing the economic, social, and health conditions as well as their livelihood patterns showed positive changes in different types of livelihood assets, such as financial capital, natural capital, physical capital, human capital, social capital, and also decision making and empowerment issues.
The survey also revealed that 63% of respondents said that their overall livelihood pattern improved after being involved in the industry.
In a study in 2018, a total of 240 RMG workers were interviewed from eight areas in Dhaka city. From the analytical results, it is shown that most of the RMG workers are from the rural areas of the country (90%) and female (60%). Moreover, they are poorly educated as 46% of them only have primary education.
One of the common problems faced by working women in the industry is the lack of proper accommodation.
A large proportion of them live in a mess; many property owners are now interested in building messes for RMG workers as the demand is increasing.
It is a shame that only a very few RMG factories provide accommodation for their workers.
In January 2023, South Asian Network on Economic Modeling (SANEM) estimated the living wage range for the RMG workers living in Dhaka between Tk 19,200 and Tk 22,900.
This does not reflect what RMG workers are actually paid - which is about half of the estimated amount.
Though Bangladesh is a male dominated society in which women are treated unequally, they are taking the challenge of making themselves financially independent.
Female workers face wage discrepancy in case of higher salary as only 4% of female workers get more than Tk.7000 monthly whereas this figure is 45% for male workers.
In addition, their salary structure is not sufficient to run their family expenditure successfully. It was found that the female RMG workers contribute 41% share of their individual income to the total family expense.
In their working place, 67% of them are getting only 1-2 months of leave during their pregnancy period in which 32% of them are without salary.
Although their income has been increased by the government, it is not sufficient to ensure their minimum standard of living.
Employment opportunities of women in the RMG sector have no doubt upgraded their lives - both socially and economically.
The RMG industry has led to significant changes in the socio-economic conditions and livelihood patterns of working women.
Even then, workers continue to be deprived of their legitimate share.
Unless and until the basic rights of female RMG workers are ensured, it cannot be expected that this sector will achieve its desired goal.
M S Siddiqui is Non-Government Adviser: Bangladesh Competition Commission; Former Professor, Daffodil Int'l University, Bangladesh, and CEO, Bangla Chemical. e-mail: mssiddiqui2035@gmail.com.