Well-Being Status of the Informal Workers in Bangladesh: An Inside into Personal, Social, and Economic Aspects

The contribution of informal sector in terms of providing employment and earnings is undeniable. Nonetheless, the well-being status of workers in this sector is under deficit and they prevail with denied employee rights—wages, working hours, safety and security, working environment, and so forth. Hence, this article has analyzed the state of workers’ well-being focusing on their personal, social, and economic aspects. Applying semi-structured interviews with 255 workers from three divisions and three broad informal sectors, conducting several focus group discussions and key informant interviews, the study reveals the findings. Findings show that the personal well-being of workers is very low where more than sixty percent of workers can’t spend quality time with their family due to long working hours and overtime work pressure. They can hardly attend different social occasions—parties, meetings, functions, congregations, and get-togethers that reflects the low level of social well-being of workers. Whenever they have acute health problems, nearly half of the workers can’t get medical facilities putting down to the problems of medical expenses and access to health facilities. Additionally, the state of economic well-being shows that the consumption expenditure and capacity of purchasing durable goods are under the expected level, and have to suffer financially on account of minimum wages, income insecurity, or have no opportunity for extra income or no other additional income sources. Thus, the overall well-being status of workers in the informal sector of Bangladesh is condensed.