UNB, Dhaka :
Women spend thrice as much time on non-SNA (the System of National Accounts) work as men, says a survey conducted by Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD).
‘Non-SNA work’ covers economic activity that adds value but is not included as work in the set of national accounts, since they often lack a transactional element to them. Work done around the household by housewives are an example of such non-SNA work.
The findings of the study ‘Estimating Women’s Contribution to the Economy; the Case of Bangladesh’ show that on average, females aged 15 or above spend about 7.7 hours on non-SNA activities during a typical day, whereas a male aged 15 years spends only 2.5 hours on such work. The pattern remains similar in urban and rural areas.
The study findings were formally revealed at a dialogue in a city hotel on Saturday. CPD in partnership with Manusher Jonno Foundation (MJF) arranged the dialogue styled ‘How Much Women Contribute to the Bangladesh Economy: Results from an Empirical Study’ at Amari Hotel in Gulshan.
Planning Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal, former caretaker government adviser Dr Mirza AB Azizul Islam, and CPD Executive Director Prof Mustafizur Rahman addressed the dialogue, chaired by CPD distinguished Fellow Debapriya Bhattacharya.
Presenting the survey’s findings, CPD Research Director Fahmida Khatun said on average, a female member of a household undertakes 12.1 non-SNA activities during a typical day, while the corresponding figure for a male household member is only 2.7.
