A photo in the file shows workers sewing clothes at a ready-made garment factory on the outskirts of Dhaka. — New Age Pictures
According to a study conducted by the South Asian Network on Economic Modeling and the Microfinance Opportunities, readymade garment workers in Bangladesh receive an average monthly salary of 50% below the minimum living wage.
Workers are increasingly relying on overtime and overtime to fill this gap, according to a report released on Sunday.
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SANEM, in collaboration with US-based Microfinance Opportunities, has targeted 1,300 selected garment workers in Chattogram, Dhaka City, Gazipur, Narayanganj and Sabar under the project ‘Garment Worker Diaries’. We conducted a survey.
Using an adjusted version of the Anchor methodology, the study found that Bangladesh’s monthly minimum living wage ranges from Tk 19,200 to Tk 22,900 in Dhaka, Tk 21,300 to Tk 26,000 in Chattogram, and Tk 19,200 to Tk 22,900 in Gazipur, Narayanganj and Sabar. presumed to be. outskirts of Dhaka.
“In the second quarter of 2022, the median earnings of workers working normal working hours (not considering overtime) is Tk 9,984 (Tk 9,669 for women and Tk 10,928 for men), with 51% to A 60 percent wage gap has emerged: cents for female workers and 45 percent to 54 percent for male workers,” the report said.
Depending on the region and living wage standard used, the current wage gap ranges from Tk 9,408 or 49 per cent to Tk 15,616 or Tk 15,616 or 60 per cent, Tk 7,947 or 41 per cent to Tk 14,400 or 55 per cent per month for women. Man, research found.
The Garment Worker’s Diary used the costs associated with food, housing, and other essential needs, as well as a small margin for contingencies, to calculate the cost of a basic but decent life. .
The methodology calculates the gap for the average Bangladeshi household (four-person household) over the average number of adult earners in a household, which is 1.58 in Bangladesh, the report said.
According to the Global Living Wage Coalition, a living wage can be defined as the compensation a worker receives for a standard working week in a particular location that is sufficient to provide a decent standard of living for the worker and his family.
Elements of an adequate standard of living include food, water, housing, education, health care, transportation, clothing, and other essential needs, including being prepared for the unexpected.
