Working poverty, at least at the most extreme level (living on less than $1.90 a day), was declining before the Covid-19 pandemic. With the new wage structure in several sectors including RMG, agriculture, leather and tea, its workers’ wages increased, which helped to generate more income and reduce working poverty in Bangladesh, it also said. If inequality could have been reduced and employment opportunities in the manufacturing sector increased through more public investment, the reduction rate of working poverty could have been higher, Moazzem added. Income rise in the informal sector and agriculture helped to reduce extreme poverty as most people are employed here. Matters were made worse by the pandemic, which jolted the informal sector and internal migrant workers, pushing them into poverty again.

Source: Dhaka Tribune December 15, 2020 18:45 UTC