Standard of Living of Women Workers: A Study in the RMG Sector of Dhaka City, Bangladesh

Abstract

Bangladesh presently exports Ready-Made Garment (RMG) to about 30 countries around the world. More
women, whether pushed by poverty or pulled by opportunity, work outside home particularly in the RMG sector. The
exodus of women to work in urban areas, leaving homes and families, is a relatively recent development. Despite the
employment opportunities at the garment factories, women workers in Bangladesh suffer from abject poverty. Most of
them earn less than a dollar (US) a day. Workers of the multi-billion dollar industry live hand to mouth and often starve
along with children. Lack of proper literacy skills is holding them back at work that in turn is contributing to low wages.
Problems of industrial work and urban living are compounded by the mere fact that there are not enough affordable
housing and transportation facilities for workers on limited wages. How the workers cope with daily expenses on a wage
of less than a dollar a day is focus of the paper. This paper attempts to present the living conditions depicted by the
academic literature and juxtapose it against the narratives of the interviewed garment workers in Bangladesh.