Bangladesh's top 5.0 per cent hold 30 per cent of national income, Labour Reform Commission says

The country’s top 5 per cent income group owns 30 per cent of the national income, said a report prepared by the Labour Reform Commission while presenting the picture of income disparity on Monday.

The main reason for the huge income inequality is the rise of oligarchs and income disparity, the report noted.

In 1973, the country’s top 10 per cent owned 28.4 per cent of the national income, and in 2016, 10 per cent of people had 38 per cent of the national income, the report submitted to Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus said.

In 2021, the top 10 per cent possessed 44 per cent of the national income, and during the same period, 1.0 per cent amassed 16.3 per cent of the national income, said the report quoting statistics.

At that time, the bottom 50 per cent of the population owned only 17.1 per cent of the national income, the report added.

The report noted that Bangladesh is now on the way to becoming a country with one of the highest income disparities in the world.

It suggests immediate actions to reduce this income disparity, saying that if the present condition continues, the country will be entrapped in inequality.

The report also said that labour wages in Bangladesh are the lowest in the Asia-Pacific region and are below the poverty level according to internationally recognised benchmarks.

According to the report, labourers in Bangladesh are under a huge burden of debt, and the overall debt burden—taken from both formal and informal sources—has increased significantly over the last decade.

In 2010, the average loan burden of a poor person was Tk 21,804, but in 2021, it increased to Tk 41,921, meaning that the loan burden on the average poor person increased by 92.27 per cent.

On the other hand, in 2010, the average loan burden on a poor family was Tk 54,122, which jumped to Tk 131,395—meaning that the average loan burden on a family increased by 143 per cent in one decade.

The report pointed out that low income caused an erosion in productivity and ultimately created a negative impact on economic growth. On the other hand, if a minimum wage is ensured, productivity will rise.

It reveals that Bangladesh does not have any universal minimum wage, and out of 39 sectors, the minimum wage for workers in 22 sectors is below the poverty line.

According to an analysis, out of 44 sectors, minimum wages were announced for 34 sectors since 2013.

But compared to the consumer price index, minimum wages for these sectors are below the living wage, the report revealed.

The report also said that there is significant income inequality between male and female workers in some sectors.

Citing an example, it said that in the basking mills in the North Bengal area, the per-day wage of a female worker is between Tk 150 and Tk 200, whereas for the same job, a male worker earns Tk 500 to 600.

The Commission, headed by Syed Sultan Uddin Ahmed, prepared a set of recommendations and submitted them to the Chief Adviser, aiming to establish social justice and ensure basic rights for the country’s workers.

Other members of the Commission are Dr Mahfuzul Haque, former secretary of the Ministry of Labour and Employment and the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change; Dr Zakir Hossain, professor at Rajshahi University; Tapan Dutta, president of the Chittagong divisional committee of the Trade Union Centre; Advocate AKM Nasim, former president of the Bangladesh Labour Court Bar Association; M Kamran T Rahman, former president of the Bangladesh Employers Federation; Chowdhury Ashikul Alam, president of the Bangladesh Trade Union Sangha; Shakil Akhter Chowdhury, general secretary of the Bangladesh Labour Federation; Taslima Akhter, a photographer and labour movement activist; and a student representative.