Setting out on the path of marriage marks a significant milestone. Sharing your life with someone, creating a home, and nurturing a family is exciting and heartwarming. However, this beautiful phase often comes with its own challenges, especially when managing the mounting expenses of daily essentials, especially in this economy. The worldwide cost of living crisis has had a widespread impact and has struck middle-income families.
Consider a young couple, fresh out of college, who are still trying to figure out their role as young adults in a family. It's only natural to face challenges and encounter difficulties when adapting to a new situation. Adjusting gradually and learning how to sustain a family while shouldering responsibilities are part of the journey.
In Bangladesh, as in many countries, the job market is competitive and often saturated. Landing a high-paying job right after graduation is rare, and most graduates start their careers wherever they can find an opening.
So when they decide to get married, they start a family with a limited income source. The need to manage household expenses, cover the rent, put food on the table, and plan for the future can be overwhelming when they have limited financial resources.
The cost of basic necessities is steadily rising, further complicating the situation. The cost of food, housing, education, healthcare, and transportation is rising, putting immense pressure on the finances of young couples. The burden can be felt by the couple and their extended families, who often assist in various ways. If one or both are continuing their education, it can add extra expenses to the list.
Utility bills, including electricity and water, can quickly eat into the family budget. Rent, a significant portion of their monthly expenses, can become a financial burden. The prices of food items fluctuate unpredictably. These newly married couples often struggle to provide nutritious meals.
Jafna Rahman Joya is an honours student in English at Mohammadpur Kendriya College, Dhaka, and works as a part-time kindergarten teacher at Sreenagar Model School & College, Munshiganj. Her husband, Ahaduzzaman Hadi, is a brand advisor at Vivo Mobile Company. She shares how extreme price hikes have disrupted her daily life.
"Our cost of living has risen drastically during the past year of our married life. Our housing rent, which formerly included gas and electricity bills for Tk 13,000, has risen to Tk 14,500, and we have to pay an additional Tk 2500 for gas and electricity every month. Our monthly food and grocery cost has increased from Tk 8,000 to over Tk 11,000. As a result, we are only bringing home half of the products we used to."
"Transportation and mobile bill costs have risen 1.5 times over the previous year. We're dealing with rising expenses for our family, which is getting more challenging."
She also mentions how they had to cut back on any recreation to save unnecessary costs, saying, "Before, we could plan a tour at least once or twice a year, which significantly enriched our quality time together as a couple. However, it has now transformed into a luxury that we no longer can afford."
Price hikes cast a wide net of influence over daily life, touching upon financial well-being, access to essential services, and the ability to plan for the future. The decision to start a family and plan for a baby can become a complex and uncertain matter. Raising a child with an unstable financial condition can be challenging. It can cost a great deal, and healthcare, childcare, and other baby-related expenses can be difficult.
Research aimed at finding out the impact of price hikes on the lower middle class, done by Shamsu Uddin Shakib, Lecturer of the Department of Business Administration, Leading University, Sylhet, was published in the European Journal of Business and Management. It shows that out of 97.7 per cent of people, only 9.8 per cent are trying to reduce using electrical appliances to reduce their electric bill, but 8 per cent of the people are reducing their daily bazaar, 6.7 per cent stopped going out unnecessarily, and 4.9 per cent are not attending social parties.
Price hikes are affecting everyone, some more than others. Common people with low or limited income sources are the most affected. This unstable economic condition creates many more difficulties for a newly married couple still trying to grasp the reality of adulthood.
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