Unaccounted for contributions of womenfolk to economy

Economic contribution of women, especially in informal sector, yet to be taken into account while estimating the country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Women, involved in household work, are widely regarded as 'unsung heros' as their mammoth contribution remained unaccounted for in the economy.
In Bangladesh, the Prime Minister, Speaker of the Jatiya Sangsad and other top policymakers are women. They always speak for protecting the rights of women. They are also framing policies to increase involvement of women workforce in the mainstream economy.
Women are one of the successful entrepreneurs in the field of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). Women workforce is also behind the success of the country's readymade garment export.
Amid all those positive aspects, there is dearth of recognition of women's unpaid works. Household works of women remain uncounted in the economy.
Recently, economists, women and media activists have started raising their voices to ensure recognition of unpaid works of women. There is a nation-wide campaign titled "equality through dignity" to change mindset towards women.
Women are not getting economic recognition, even though they are greatly contributing to food and social security, education, child-care etc.
In rural area, paddy and rice production from cultivating to marketing are processed in 23 phases and of them, 17 phases are completed by rural women, a study shows.
Lack of recognition of women's contribution is universal. It is comparatively higher in the least developed countries (LDC) such as Bangladesh.
Women spend two-thirds of their time on food production, but their total income is equivalent to only 10 per cent of the global income, UNICEF study shows
Women's unpaid activities remained outside the traditional framework of GDP estimation in Bangladesh. It should be revaluated and recognised.
In a recent study, Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD), commissioned by the non-governmental organisation (NGO), Manusher Jonno Foundation (MJF), has quantified with estimation worth Tk 5,948.45 billion or US$ 151.72 billion as unpaid household works of women in Bangladesh.
The study titled 'Estimating Women's Contribution to the Economy: Case of Bangladesh' unveiled on October last year.
It said the unpaid work of women is equivalent to 87.2 per cent of GDP of Fiscal Year (FY) 2013-14.
Surprisingly, the study shows that 60.4 per cent women do not want to be involved in paid work as their families do not like and about 60 per cent women cited preference to give time to family as the other reason.
The CPD study, an eye-opener, suggested changing the calculation practice of national accounting so that women workfolk's household activities can be reflected in the GDP.  
The study said a woman spends around eight hours on unpaid activities a day while a male spends around three hours.
As a member of a household, she undertakes around 13 unpaid chores daily while a male does less than three, it said.
The value of women's unpaid work is about three times more than their income from paid services, although they spend three times more time in household work compared to men, the study said.
Apart from the unaccounted for household works, wage discrimination is another reason that shows lower contribution of women workfolks in economic activities. Still, contribution of unpaid work is higher than that of the paid jobs of women.
The study shows the value of unpaid works by women is 2.5 to 2.9 times higher compared to income received by the women from paid services.
The age-old male chauvinistic mindset usually considers the women's household work as regular job and task of caregiver for the family.  
Amid all odds, Bangladeshi women have come out vigorously with hundreds of thousands of initiatives for changing fortunes of their own. They have brought a social transformation with their participation in the economic journey of the nation.
Women have made their remarkable marks in two areas of success - microcredit and readymade garments. Millions of girls and mothers are now involved in the economic activity apart from their role for generations in agriculture and as caregivers at home.
From the rural Bangladesh to the urban growth centres, the women have started picking up courage to break their shackles of the past and entered the off-house working force.
In fact, the rise of Bangladeshi womenfolk can be considered as a revolution, given the change that has taken place in the past 2-3 decades in the once-backward society.
Today, the women are almost everywhere - from boutique business to light engineering industry, from local corporate house to multinational corporations. They are also starting new innovative businesses like event management, advertising agencies etc.
Apart from the paid services, unaccounted for and unmeasured work of women also needs to be recognized and added to the national accounting system.
The CPD study recommended a comprehensive method to include women's unaccounted activities in GDP.
The government should rethink the methodology of national accounting for recognizing household works of women. It should facilitate the women with necessary logistics and social support to involve more on formal sectors.
More wage-based work opportunity in formal sector could be key to making women's unaccounted contribution more visible in the society. Reforms in policy space and changes in social perception towards women is needed alongside amendments in traditional accounting method.
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