MD ASADUZ ZAMAN and SOHRAB HOSSAIN

By fishing, Rafique Majhi earns about Tk 500 on a good day, if luck favours him. The income has barely changed over the years. After the pandemic, when the cost of daily essentials began to surge, food was the first item he cut back on.

At Mahipur in Patuakhali district, his family began seeing fish or eggs on their plates less frequently.

Over time, that has worsened rather than improved. When catches fail or fishing bans are imposed, borrowing has become more frequent. Each day, Rafique’s struggle is to secure three meals, often only rice and vegetables.

After weeks of disrupted fishing due to fuel shortages, he is now anxious about surviving the next fishing ban from mid-April. “Prices of everything have gone up, but income has remained the same,” said the 52-year-old fisherman.

Like him, many low-income households across the country are under pressure as earnings fail to keep pace with rising prices. The difference between income growth and inflation have driven real incomes down.

Official data show real incomes have remained negative for four consecutive years.

“It’s impossible to cover all basic needs,” said Kabir Hossain, an employee at a fish depot at Mohipur Fish Landing Centre in the same southern district.

He said his children often ask for better meals, but he cannot afford them. To manage daily expenses, he relies on borrowing almost every month. The upcoming fishing ban is also a major concern.

According to the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS), inflation has outpaced wage growth for 50 consecutive months up to March, despite a gradual rise in pay since February 2022.

The wage growth rate stood at 8.09 percent in March, 0.62 percentage points below inflation of 8.71 percent, according to the Wage Rate Index. In the previous month, the gap between inflation and wage growth was 1.05 percentage points.

Unlike Rafique or Hossain, Prashanna Kumar Roy, a farm labourer at Rajpur union in Lalmonirhat, is not concerned about fishing bans. But his pressure comes from rising farming costs, which he said have reduced his income.

Roy, who used to earn Tk 15,000 to Tk 20,000 a month during the farming season, said it is now difficult to earn even Tk 14,000.

After cutting all possible expenses, including exhausting the very small family savings and skimping on nutritious food, the 45-year-old labourer said any emergency, such as medical needs, now forces him to take loans, adding to existing debt.

These people belong to the country’s informal sector, which makes up about 84 percent of the total employed population of 6.9 crore. A large share of them are now at risk of falling into poverty or is already below the poverty line.

COMPROMISING NUTRITION INVITES LASTING CONSEQUENCES

Mohammad Lutfor Rahman, professor of economics at Jahangirnagar University, said low-income households are cutting back on protein-rich foods such as fish, meat, eggs, milk and fruit, relying instead on basic calorie intake just enough to work the next day.

He said such compromises could have long-term consequences.

“A malnourished workforce cannot remain productive, and their physical capacity declines over time,” Prof Rahman said, adding that children in low-income families risk falling behind in cognitive development.

He said weak labour demand is adding further pressure.

Several sectors, including construction, have recorded weak or negative growth in recent months, reducing demand for labour.

“At the same time, more people are entering the labour force, creating excess supply and pushing wages down.”