Women labourers face wage disparity

If ever an example was needed that sincerity doesn't pay, one could visit the farm fields of Thakurgaon and Panchagarh. There, female farm labourers who are renowned for their dedication to the task at hand are consistently paid less than male colleagues.

"We have to work for a smaller wage," says Rosoda Bala, 35, a farm labourer from Bokanthapur village in Thakurgaon Sadar upazila. "Otherwise the landholder won't give us work."

"There's no alternative," agrees Maleka Begum, 50, of Shakoya Shahapara village in Panchagarh's Boda upazila. "Working for low wages is a matter of survival in rural areas. If I avoid work for a day or two in order to bargain about wages, my family will pass those days half-fed or without food. Working in the crop fields is essential to arrange family meals."

The circumstances of Nomita Bala, 30, also from Boikanthapur, are typical. She told The Daily Star while working in an Aman paddy field that her payment for that day would be Tk 160, as it has been for the previous three days.

While women make up more than half of farm labourers in Thakurgaon and Panchagarh districts, especially active in the jute and Aman fields at the current time, typical day wages for women range from Tk 150 – Tk 180 while, for the same work, men can expect to earn Tk 250 – Tk 300.

Asked about the reason for lower wages for women, landholder Ramjan Ali from Panchagarh's Boda upazila says it relates to their productivity. "While women labourers are sincere in their work," he says, "they cannot render the same physical labour as males. As such, their wages are lower." It's a common myth used to defend the wage disparity. In reality, the output of women farm labourers is on par with their male counterparts.

In a 2015 report prepared by the Food Planning and Monitoring Unit of the food and disaster management ministry entitled "National Food Policy and Work Plan and Domestic Investment Planning Observation" it is noted that while discrimination in wages between men and women continues its level has decreased by 10% in recent years.

It also states that an average male labourer can purchase on average nine kilograms of coarse rice from their daily wage, while women's wages will only cover the price of six kilograms.

"Women are contributing tremendously in the agricultural sector," says social research and executive of Eco Social Development Organisation Muhammad Shahid Uz Zaman. "But they suffer from discrimination in terms of wages, long working hours and various other disadvantageous conditions."

While the government has wage guidelines, he adds, these are neither adhered to nor properly monitored. Such monitoring could encourage more women to work outside the home and bring greater prosperity to their families, he believes.

Arshed Ali, the deputy director in Thakurgaon of the Department of Agriculture Extension, says no statistics on female participation rates in the agricultural sector are available to him. But he estimates at the district level not less than 1.5 lakh women work in the fields. "Steps should be taken to prevent discrimination against women, in recognition of their outstanding contribution to agriculture," he says.

Ironically women farm labourers are often sought after, compared to male colleagues, due to their diligence; but also potentially because a lack of alternative jobs leads to the weaker bargaining power that offers landholders unfair labour cost savings.