According to the estimation of Bangladesh Bureau of statistics (BBS), the total number of unemployed people people from April to June this year was 26 lakh 40 thousand. In the first quarter of the year, the number was 25 lakh 90 thousand. In this land of 17 crore people this rate of unemployement is very alarming. However, according to the experts, the hidden number of unemployed in the country will be around a few crore. But, due to the limitation of the definition of unemployment, the real scenio is not being included in the information.
According to the assumption of the experts, the number of unemployed has increased due to economic instability and the closure of various businesses one by one. This picture will emerge in the third quarter report of BBS. Usually, the report is published in October every year. However, BBS has not published the report even in December. When asked about this, BBS Director (Industry and Labor Wing) Muhammad Atiqul Kabir told The Bangladesh Pratidin, “The report is ready. Some tasks of signatures are due, but it will be published this month.”
Abdul Matin, a resident of Bhatara in the capital, has been looking for a job for two years. He did not get a job even after learning to drive. Now he is trying to sell his land and go abroad. Last Sunday, he got Tk 2,000 taka by helping someone in registering the land. After struggling for four days with that little amount of money, he is currently empty-handed. He could not pay the rent and school fees of his child. There is supply of food in his house. However, according to the government, he is not unemployed. According to the definition of the International Labor Organization (ILO), a person who has been looking for work for 30 days is considered unemployed only if he does not get a chance to work for one hour in the last seven days. BBS also uses this definition. Accordingly, Mukta from Rangpur, who has been applying for a job for a year after taking two tuitions, is not unemployed. Similarly, a housewife named Afroza bought some winter clothes last month with money from her husband to increase her income. She sells them from her house in the Khilkhet area, along with nearby flats and to the guardians of her child's school. However, her sales decreased before the capital came in. She made a profit of just Tk 120 by selling two dresses in seven days. Accordingly, she is not unemployed either.
According to BBS data, the total labor force in the country (aged 15 and above) during April to June of this year was 7 crore 22 lakh 80 thousand. Of these, 6 crore 9.6 lakh 40 thousand were employed, who worked for at least one hour in seven days in exchange for wages or profit. The unemployed population is 26 lakh 40 thousand. In addition, the number of people outside the labor force is 4 crore 50 lakh, who are neither unemployed nor employed. Students, elderly, sick, disabled, retired and housewives who are unwilling to work have been placed in this category.
In this regard, Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS) Research Fellow Dr. SM Jahedul Islam Chowdhury told The Bangladesh Pratidin, “If the ILO definition is used to calculate the unemployed, there will be no unemployed in the country. Someone is looking for a job along with tuition for their living expenses— even if he considers himself unemployed, he is not unemployed according to the definition. If they are included, the number of unemployed will increase.”
There is a new ILO directive in this regard. There is some change in the definition. If you take that into account, the calculation will be a little clearer. Meanwhile, a BIDS report published on March 24 this year said that 28 percent of students remain unemployed even three years after graduation from the National University. According to the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) of London, 47 out of 100 graduates in Bangladesh are unemployed. Experts say that a large number of ‘hidden unemployment’ are being excluded due to the definition. Working one hour a week is not considered unemployed. It is difficult for a person to get a meal for one hour by working for one hour. If the definition does not take one hour of work into account and the amount of income is taken into account, the calculation would be logical. Some people earn lakhs of taka by doing one job for two months. By definition, they are unemployed. On the other hand, many people earn Tk 200 a week but are not considered unemployed. If these pseudo-unemployed are included in the calculation, the number will be in the crores.
(Translated by Lutful Hoque)
