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Female employment under export-propelled industrialization According to projections, the share of female employment (90 per cent) in the export-oriented RMG sector will be protected, and the proportion of female workers would register some increase in the non-export-oriented RMG sub-sectors (see Table 16). As mentioned earlier, the proportion of women in the total workforce of the textile sector is very low in Bangladesh, even when compared to other developing countries. As most of the incremental labour force is expected to be employed in the upstream textile-related activities (part of which caters to local demand), women will not be able to fully exploit the potential employment opportunities if present patterns of female employment in the textile sector persist. By 2005, the share of female employment is projected to rise from 10 to only 20 per cent in non-export-oriented RMG, while in the dyeing/finishing sub-sectors the share is expected to rise from 2 to 10 per cent, in the knitting/ hosiery sub-sectors from 4 to 30 per cent, and in the spinning subsector from 5 to 20 per cent. However, Ministry of Commerce projections do not say whether specific policies will be required to provide employment, or whether low relative wages are expected automatically to ensure enhanced female employment. Table 16: Projection of share of female labour in the textile/apparel sector (1995-2005)(percentage) Sub-sectors 1995 (actual) 2000 (projected) 2005 (projected) RMG Local 10.0 15.0 20.0 Export-oriented 90.0 90.0 90.0 Dyeing and finishing 2.0 5.0 10.0 Weaving (powerloom) 3.0 80.0 15.0 Handloom 44.0 47.0 50.0 Silk 52.0 55.0 60.0 Knitting and hosiery 14.0 20.0 30.0 Spinning 10.0 15.0 20.0 Source: Ministry of Commerce, 1996. Ministry of Commerce projections also foresee female employment rising from 1.6 million (in 1995 base year) to between 3.4 million (under normal conditions) and 4.0 million (under selfsufficiency conditions) (see Table 15). However, for such projections to materialize, substantial resources will have to be directed toward the textiles sector through both public and private investment, and 249
Women’s employment in the textile manufacturing sectors of Bangladesh and Morocco foreign direct investment. Moreover, the protection of quantitative restrictions (QRs) on imports and high levels of tariffs may also need to be continued until 2005. Projections show that if QRs on imports of textile products are withdrawn (as stipulated in the ATC), then about 180,000 women workers will be retrenched immediately. Table 17 suggests that if the protection enjoyed by the textile sector is withdrawn, employment creation for women will be 250,000 less in 2000 and 360,000 less in 2005 compared to the projected figures of female employment in the textiles sector under normal conditions. Table 17: Impact of ATC on employment of women in the textiles sector (1995-2005) (million person-years) Sub-sectors 1995 2000 normal 2005 normal (Base conditions conditions year) with ATC without ATC with ATC without ATC RMG Local 0.084 0.161 0.161 0.273 0.273 Export-oriented 1.080 1.742 1.742 2.222 2.222 Dyeing and finishing 0.005 0.007 0.014 0.018 0.036 Weaving (powerloom) 0.003 0.005 0.010 0.013 0.025 Handloom 0.324 0.221 0.441 0.300 0.599 Silk 0.120 0.147 0.163 0.203 0.225 Knitting and hosiery 0.007 0.007 0.013 0.013 0.025 Spinning 0.013 0.026 0.026 0.043 0.043 Total 1.636 2.316 2.570 3.085 3.448 Source: Ministry of Textiles, 1996. Bangladesh’s policy makers are thus faced with a dilemma. If the phenomenal growth of the RMG sector is to be sustained, and if the scope for women’s employment in the manufacturing sector is to be enhanced, resources must be found and committed to the development of the textile sector. The textile sector must also be given some protection in the interim period. As a least developed country (LDC), Bangladesh is granted some leeway as regards protectionist policies which are WTO-legal; however, such protection may become untenable in the medium and long term. The projected investments also imply substantial transfers of technology into the country’s textile-related sectors. Tomorrow’s competitive factories in Bangladesh will require more skilled and semi-skilled workers, with higher literacy rates and the capacity to carry out mechanical operations and quality control in the production process (CPD, 1998). If conscious policy interventions and training programmes are not undertaken by the government to educate and 250
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Women’s Employment in the Textile
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This United Nations Research Instit
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Acknowledgements Many people have b
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notwithstanding the inertia of the
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Carol Miller is a policy analyst on
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xii VII. Contribution of different
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Introduction 1 Introduction 1 Shahr
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Introduction Table 1: Basic indicat
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Introduction women have been tradit
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Introduction The chapters on Bangla
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Introduction occurs, on average, at
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Introduction women workers related
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Introduction in low-income countrie
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Introduction by repaying their “d
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Introduction participate in labour
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Introduction their bargaining power
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Introduction processing zones hypot
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Introduction IV. The case studies T
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Introduction experience in garment
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Introduction V. Conclusion Although
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Introduction improved technology. T
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Introduction References Afsar, R. (
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Introduction Household Power Relati
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Wage discrimination by gender in Mo
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Gender and employment in Moroccan t
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Gender dimensions of labour migrati
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Table 1: Total number of male and f
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Table 9: Distribution of the sample
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Becoming a garment worker 5Becoming
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Becoming a garment worker garment w
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Becoming a garment worker Table 1:
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Becoming a garment worker view of t
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Becoming a garment worker that time
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Becoming a garment worker 2. “I e
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Becoming a garment worker out that
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Becoming a garment worker being. Th
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Becoming a garment worker support t
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Becoming a garment worker they firs
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Becoming a garment worker V. Conclu
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Becoming a garment worker is a job
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Becoming a garment worker Endnotes
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Becoming a garment worker Cole P. D
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Women’s employment in the textile
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