Why are women farm workers still paid less?

It is disappointing that although women perform a major portion of agricultural work in the country, their male counterparts receive higher pay than them. For instance, with rice production, research has found that out of the 23 stages, women participate in 17. Male farm workers earn Tk 450 per day while female farm workers get Tk 300. Such glaring discrimination in wages continues even though more women are joining the agriculture sector in Bangladesh. A Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) labour survey has calculated that around 1.84 crore women work in various kinds of agricultural work.

A recent report in this daily stated that landowners have a financial incentive to hire women workers because they can pay them less and hence hire more farm hands, which speeds up the production process. Thus the exploitation of women farm workers continues, mainly because women are afraid they will lose their job if they say anything against the wage discrepancy. A shrinking job market in the non-farming sector, especially the garment industry, which has been the biggest employer of women, is a major factor behind the increase in women workers in the agricultural sector. The increasing cost of living in the city, lack of security and poor pay in the informal sector where wages are arbitrarily determined – all these elements have caused women to opt for agricultural work.

But despite their hard work and their huge contribution to family income, some are heads of the household, they do not have equal rights or control over land. They also do not have any union to protect their rights and raise voices against wage discrimination.

We must eliminate this age-old wage discrimination between genders and correct the erroneous perception that women work less than men and therefore should be paid less. The government should form a policy that will offer fair and equal wages to all agricultural workers regardless of their gender. In addition, the labour law should regulate wages for agricultural workers, ensuring fair and equal pay for everyone. All agricultural workers must also have the right to organise themselves and demand fair wages, among other rights.