This paper uses the German Socio-Economic Panel to show that fathers – and to a lesser degree childless men and women, are most satisfied with life when working full-time or longer. In contrast, whether mothers spend more or less hours in employment hardly affects their life satisfaction. The rational maximization of income as postulated by family economics cannot explain these results, as they are even found in households where women earn more than men. Because they are also found among those who hold secure jobs and have very little household work and childcare duties, these results contradict the predictions by expansionist role theory that men and women are better off in egalitarian employment arrangements. The results change little over time, with cohorts or with educational group-membership. For men, the results therefore fit best with the predictions of traditional role theory, which suggests that people are most satisfied when adhering to stereotypical gender roles. Interview Population aged 18-65

Today the average time spent on social media is 2 hours and 24 minutes today for people aged 16 to 64.

New Evidence on the Relative Scholarly Productivity of Male Versus Female Political Scientists Abstract Considerable prior research finds that male political scientists publish more research on average than do female political scientists. Yet the reasons for this difference are not entirely clear. Those findings may also over-estimate the relative productivity of men because they do not take account of the facts that more men have been in the profession for a longer time and thus have been publishing longer than women. For a prominent survey data set of political scientists we demonstrate notable cohort differences in the research productivity of both men and women across time. Our results also indicate that the overall greater productivity of men results in part from senior women scholars not generally enjoying the same benefits of long tenure on their research output as men do.

Resource selection in sexually dimorphic ungulates is at least partially explained by sex-specific resource requirements and risk aversion strategies. Females generally spend more time in areas with less risk and abundant, high-quality forage due to their smaller body size. However, demographically variable responses to risk are context dependent, and few have concurrently quantified male and female behavior within areas with the same resource base. We captured 111 (54 males, 57 females) adult white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) from 2009–2018 on a site in South Carolina, USA, where hunters were the primary source of adult mortality. We fit each deer with a GPS collar programmed to collect locations at 30-min intervals. Upon collar recovery, we analyzed the data to estimate sex- and time-specific selection for, and distance to, various cover types. While both sexes generally avoided risky areas (i.e., sites hunted more frequently) during the day, females (p = 0.41) were more like...

Competition within primate groups often translates to a social hierarchy, with high-rank individuals gaining privileged access to resources, especially food. Golden snub-nosed monkeys Rhinopithecus roxellana live in a multi-level society, with multiple one-male units (OMUs), each containing a single adult male and several females, forming a breeding-band. High-rank males have increased access to high-value foods and spend less time feeding and more time being groomed by females, potentially enhancing social cohesion within their OMUs. The adults of each OMU mainly feed and socialize together, with food competition predominantly acting at the OMU level. We thus predicted that adult females by association attain the rank and feeding privileges of their OMU leader males, and make similar time-budget trade-offs. By food-provisioning a wild breeding-band during winter and spring, when natural foods are abundant or limited, respectively, we found that females of high-rank OMUs ate more provis..., Field study of female-female competition in wild golden monkeys. The effects of seasonality and social rank were tested. Data are arranged in order to be analysed in R using mixed-models., , Spreadsheet column headings

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 Foodstack data sheet

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This spreadsheet is made up of values taken in spring and winter by recording the same group of monkeys. The values have also been split between two food types, provisioned and natural. This is to enable the comparison of food type and season. However, this results in data from the same individual females being included because measurements were taken from the same monkeys in spring and winter, and because they eat both provisioned and natural food on the same day. These data for the same monkeys have thus been ‘stacked’ on top of each other. This has been accounted for in our statistical analysis by using ‘individual’ as a random factor

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‘Day’ of data recording reflects the same ‘date’ in each dataset. ‘Rank’ is the OMU leader male rank at the time the data were recorded.

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Column headings and what they mean.

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Number – row number. To enhance data sorting and management.

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Dataset used in the statistical analysis of the publication "Sex differences in the impact of social relationships on individual vocal signatures in grey mouse lemurs (Microcebus murinus)"

Abstract

Vocalizations coordinate social interactions between conspecifics by conveying information concerning the individual or group identity of the sender. Social accommodation is a form of vocal learning where social affinity is signalled by converging or diverging vocalizations to those of conspecifics. To investigate whether social accommodation is linked to the social lifestyle of the sender, we investigated sex-specific differences in social accommodation in a dispersed living primate, the grey mouse lemur, where females form stable sleeping groups whereas males live solitarily. We used 482 trill calls of 36 individuals from our captive breeding colony to compare acoustic dissimilarity between individuals with genetic relatedness, social contact time and body weight. Our results showed that female trills become more similar the more time females spend with each other independent of genetic relationship, suggesting vocal convergence. In contrast, male trills were affected more by genetic than social factors. However, focussing only on socialized males, male trills diverged from each other the more time males were cage partners. Thus, grey mouse lemurs show the capacity for social accommodation, with females converging their trills to signal social closeness to sleeping group partners, whereas males do not adapt or diverge their trills to signal individual distinctiveness.

For details concerning the recording of the trills confer to the publication at doi: 10.1098/rstb.2023.0193

This study estimates long-run impacts of a child health investment, exploiting community-wide experimental variation in school-based deworming. The program increased labor supply among men and education among women, with accompanying shifts in labor market specialization. Ten years after deworming treatment, men who were eligible as boys stay enrolled for more years of primary school, work 17% more hours each week, spend more time in non-agricultural self-employment, are more likely to hold manufacturing jobs, and miss one fewer meal per week. Women who were in treatment schools as girls are approximately one quarter more likely to have attended secondary school, halving the gender gap. They reallocate time from traditional agriculture into cash crops and non-agricultural self-employment. We estimate a conservative annualized financial internal rate of return to deworming of 32%, and show that mass deworming may generate more in future government revenue than it costs in subsidies.

Regional use of social media has a significant effect on the male and female social media statistics.

Drone Eviction Assay Raw Data

https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.4f4qrfjjw

Description of the data and file structure

Data consist of 7 files as described with headers below.

Franken - headers "treat, intro, alive, evict, total" treat is LPS or control. Remaining columns are counts of each drone introduced (intro) or found evicted, or alive Franken_trace_chc - headers: "time, rt, treat": time is retention time. rt is abundance. treat is 24hr (LPS at 24hr), 0ctrl (control at 24hr), or 9frank (LPS-CHC transferred to a control) geneexpression - headers: "treat, avg, dct, ddct, exp": treat is LPS or control. Remaining columns calculate delta-deltact (ddct) and average log expression of def2 vs control gene. intros - headers: "id, trial, colony, treatment, intro, alive, evicted, dead, missing": id is trial id, trial is date of test, colony is the introduced colony ID, treatment is either LPS or control. Remaining columns are coun...

Teenagers are the 2nd largest group of people affected by social media addiction. Teens ages 13 to 18 years old spend a significant amount of their free time on social media with an average of 3 hours a day.

As of January 2024, Instagram was slightly more popular with men than women, with men accounting for 50.6 percent of the platform’s global users. Additionally, the social media app was most popular amongst younger audiences, with almost 32 percent of users aged between 18 and 24 years.

              Instagram’s Global Audience

              As of January 2024, Instagram was the fourth most popular social media platform globally, reaching two billion monthly active users (MAU). This number is projected to keep growing with no signs of slowing down, which is not a surprise as the global online social penetration rate across all regions is constantly increasing.
              As of January 2024, the country with the largest Instagram audience was India with 362.9 million users, followed by the United States with 169.7 million users.

              Who is winning over the generations?

              Even though Instagram’s audience is almost twice the size of TikTok’s on a global scale, TikTok has shown itself to be a fierce competitor, particularly amongst younger audiences. TikTok was the most downloaded mobile app globally in 2022, generating 672 million downloads. As of 2022, Generation Z in the United States spent more time on TikTok than on Instagram monthly.

The gender wage gap indicator compares the median earnings between male and female workers in Champaign County.

Two worker populations are analyzed: all workers, including part-time and seasonal workers and those that were not employed for the full survey year; and full-time, year-round workers. The gender wage gap is included because it blends economics and equity, and illustrates that a major economic talking point on the national level is just as relevant at the local scale.

For all four populations (male full-time, year-round workers; female full-time, year-round workers; all male workers; and all female workers), the estimated median earnings were higher in 2023 than in 2005. The greatest increase in a population’s estimated median earnings between 2005 and 2023 was for female full-time, year-round workers; the smallest increase between 2005 and 2023 was for all female workers. In both categories (all and full-time, year-round), the estimated median annual earnings for male workers was consistently higher than for female workers.

The gender gap between the two estimates in 2023 was larger for full-time, year-round workers than all workers. For full-time, year-round workers, the difference was $11,863; for all workers, it was approaching $9,700.

The Associated Press wrote this article in October 2024 about how Census Bureau data shows that in 2023 in the United States, the gender wage gap between men and women working full-time widened year-over-year for the first time in 20 years.

Income data was sourced from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey (ACS) 1-Year Estimates, which are released annually.

As with any datasets that are estimates rather than exact counts, it is important to take into account the margins of error (listed in the column beside each figure) when drawing conclusions from the data.

Due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, instead of providing the standard 1-year data products, the Census Bureau released experimental estimates from the 1-year data in 2020. This includes a limited number of data tables for the nation, states, and the District of Columbia. The Census Bureau states that the 2020 ACS 1-year experimental tables use an experimental estimation methodology and should not be compared with other ACS data. For these reasons, and because data is not available for Champaign County, no data for 2020 is included in this Indicator.

For interested data users, the 2020 ACS 1-Year Experimental data release includes a dataset on Median Earnings in the Past 12 Months (in 2020 Inflation-Adjusted Dollars) by Sex by Work Experience in the Past 12 Months for the Population 16 Years and Over with Earnings in the Past 12 Months.

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau; American Community Survey, 2023 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, Table S2001; generated by CCRPC staff; using data.census.gov; (16 October 2024).; U.S. Census Bureau; American Community Survey, 2022 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, Table S2001; generated by CCRPC staff; using data.census.gov; (20 October 2023).; U.S. Census Bureau; American Community Survey, 2021 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, Table S2001; generated by CCRPC staff; using data.census.gov; (21 September 2022).; U.S. Census Bureau; American Community Survey, 2019 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, Table S2001; generated by CCRPC staff; using data.census.gov; (7 June 2021).; U.S. Census Bureau; American Community Survey, 2018 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, Table S2001; generated by CCRPC staff; using data.census.gov; (7 June 2021).; U.S. Census Bureau; American Community Survey, 2017 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, Table S2001; generated by CCRPC staff; using American FactFinder; (13 September 2018).; U.S. Census Bureau; American Community Survey, 2016 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, Table S2001; generated by CCRPC staff; using American FactFinder; (13 September 2018).; U.S. Census Bureau; American Community Survey, 2015 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, Table S2001; generated by CCRPC staff; using American FactFinder; (13 September 2018).; U.S. Census Bureau; American Community Survey, 2014 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, Table S2001; generated by CCRPC staff; using American FactFinder; (13 September 2018).; U.S. Census Bureau; American Community Survey, 2013 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, Table S2001; generated by CCRPC staff; using American FactFinder; (13 September 2018).; U.S. Census Bureau; American Community Survey, 2012 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, Table S2001; generated by CCRPC staff; using American FactFinder; (13 September 2018).; U.S. Census Bureau; American Community Survey, 2011 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, Table S2001; generated by CCRPC staff; using American FactFinder; (13 September 2018).; U.S. Census Bureau; American Community Survey, 2010 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, Table S2001; generated by CCRPC staff; using American FactFinder; (13 September 2018).; U.S. Census Bureau; American Community Survey, 2009 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, Table S2001; generated by CCRPC staff; using American FactFinder; (13 September 2018).; U.S. Census Bureau; American Community Survey, 2008 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, Table S2001; generated by CCRPC staff; using American FactFinder; (13 September 2018).; U.S. Census Bureau; American Community Survey, 2007 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, Table S2001; generated by CCRPC staff; using American FactFinder; (13 September 2018).; U.S. Census Bureau; American Community Survey, 2006 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, Table S2001; generated by CCRPC staff; using American FactFinder; (13 September 2018).; U.S. Census Bureau; American Community Survey, 2005 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, Table S2001; generated by CCRPC staff; using American FactFinder; (13 September 2018).

The results of which gender uses which platforms are in.

Many sexually selected ornaments and weapons are elaborations of an animal’s outer body surface, including long feathers, colorful skin, and rigid outgrowths. The time and energy required to keep these traits clean, attractive, and in good condition for signaling may represent an important, but understudied cost of bearing a sexually selected trait. Male fiddler crabs possess an enlarged and brightly colored claw that is used both as a weapon to fight with rival males and also as an ornament to court females. Here, we demonstrate that males benefit from grooming because females prefer males with clean claws over dirty claws, but also that the time spent grooming detracts from the amount of time available for courting females. Males therefore face a temporal tradeoff between attracting the attention of females and maintaining a clean claw. Our study provides rare evidence of the importance of grooming for mediating sexual interactions in an invertebrate, indicating that sexual selection has likely shaped the evolution of self-maintenance behaviors across a broad range of taxa.

Methods Time budgets

We conducted 10-minute focal observations on surface-active individuals (n = 50) to estimate the amount of time males spend grooming their claw. Observations were conducted between 10 am and 3 pm when crabs are most active. We measured the total amount of time a male spent grooming his major claw during the 10-minute sample using a stopwatch. Focal males were haphazardly selected from surface-active individuals on the mudflat, and we alternated between individuals initially identified in the sun and shade to account for potential differences in time budgets between microhabitats. Because crabs were not individually marked, we sampled individuals from different locations on the mudflat to avoid repeat sampling. Males that were not surface-active for the entire 10-minute focal sample (e.g., because they retreated into their burrow) were excluded from the analyses (<10% of males). At the end of the sample, we captured the focal male and measured his claw length to the nearest 0.1 mm using dial calipers.

Male-male competition

To evaluate whether males benefit from having clean claws in the context of male-male fights over burrow ownership, we staged fights between unmanipulated resident males and focal intruder males with either clean (n = 51) or dirty claws (n = 49). To stage fights, we captured males that were defending their territories and released them back into the colony. Captured males were released several meters from their burrow to avoid encounters with familiar neighbors and observed through binoculars as they wandered across the mudflat. Males were measured for claw length and then their claw was painted either with mud from the mudflat (“dirty” claw) or a clean brush (“clean” claw). To minimize handling disturbance, experimenters wore latex gloves and placed a plastic sheet between the crab’s claw and body during the painting treatment. After being released, most males took several seconds before resuming normal activity. We therefore measured a male’s fighting latency as the time elapsed between becoming active and initiating a fight with another resident male. We also recorded whether a male spent any time grooming his claw before initiating a fight (yes/no), and whether the male won or lost the fight. Males were defined as winners if they displaced the resident from his burrow and as losers if they were unable to displace the resident and continued wandering.

Female choice

We conducted female mate choice trials (n = 40) to evaluate whether males benefit from having clean claws in the context of attracting mates. We captured mate-searching females wandering on the mudflat and tested their preference for males with clean versus dirty claws using custom-built robotic crabs. Each robot consisted of a plaster claw replica (21.0 mm long) molded from a real male claw and painted with yellow enamel paint. Because natural A. mjoebergi claws reflect UV light, and females prefer UV-reflecting claws over claws that do not reflect UV light, we also painted the entire surface of the claw replicas with a UV marker. Each claw was attached to a metal arm that was driven by a small motor to mimic the species’ claw waving pattern at a rate of 16.8 waves/min. A pair of identical robots were placed in a 60 x 60 cm level test arena that was covered with a smooth layer of mudflat sediment and positioned 15 cm away from each other and 25 cm away from the choosing female. Once positioned, the claws were painted either with mud from the mudflat (“dirty” claw) or a clean brush (“clean” claw). At the start of each mate-choice trial, a female was placed under a transparent cup in front of the robotic crabs, allowed to observe the robotic crabs for two complete wave cycles, and then released from the cup using a remote trigger. Females were counted as having chosen a male if they moved directly towards and stopped at the base of one of the robotic crab units. Females that gave a startle response (i.e., dashed on release to the perimeter of the arena) or were motionless for > 3 min after release were retested a maximum of three times before being excluded from the data set and released into the population.

Temporal tradeoffs

We tested for a potential cost of grooming due to a tradeoff in the time spent maintaining a clean claw and courting females. Specifically, we conducted two-minute focal observations on males with either clean or dirty claws to measure the amount of time spent grooming versus waving. For each sample, we captured a resident male from his burrow and placed a plastic fence around the entrance to prevent other individuals from entering. Captured males were measured for claw length, painted either with mud (“dirty” claw, n = 23) or a clean brush (“clean” claw, n = 23) as described above, and then returned to their territory. We widened the burrow entrance slightly with a stick to minimize the chances of a “dirty” claw being wiped clean as the male entered or exited his burrow. To encourage the males to emerge from their burrow and engage in courtship activity, we tethered a mate-searching female to a short (~5 cm) piece of cotton thread and anchored the tether near the male’s territory. Focal males were recorded with a video camera (Sony Handycam HDR-PJ410 or DCR-SR45) and observed for two minutes following the initiation of his first wave. We measured the amount of time a male spent either grooming his major claw or waving using a stopwatch.

Gen Z and Millennials are the biggest social media users of all age groups.

The results might surprise you when looking at internet users that are active on social media in each country.

In socially monogamous species with bi-parental care, males may face a trade-off between providing parental care and pursuing extra-pair matings. The “parenting-mating trade-off” hypothesis predicts that high-quality males – who have greater potential to gain extra-pair matings, e.g. larger males usually win the competition for extra-pair mating – should reduce parental care and spend more time looking for extra-pair matings. However, the trade-off between parenting and mating efforts may be complicated by variation in the availability of extra-pair mating opportunities. By using field data of hair-crested drongos (Dicrurus hottentottus), a species exhibiting bi-parental incubation behavior, collected in central China from 2010 to 2017, we tested whether the potential negative relationship between male quality and paternal care was dependent on the number of nearby fertile females. We found that male drongos mainly seek extra-pair matings during the incubation period and high-quality individuals (males with longer tarsi) are more likely to sire extra-pair offspring. In agreement with the “parenting-mating trade-off” hypothesis, high-quality males incubated less by recessing longer between incubation bouts. However, this was only the case when sufficient fertile females nearby for extra-pair mating opportunities. Females compensated for reduced male care, but this was independent of male quality. This suggests that the reduction in care by high-quality males might be a direct response to extra-pair mating opportunities rather than facilitated by differential allocation of females. Our results indicate that individual quality and available mating opportunities may shape the optimal trade-off between parental care and seeking additional matings for males.

Abstract

Facebook’s Survey on Gender Equality at Home generates a global snapshot of women and men’s access to resources, their time spent on unpaid care work, and their attitudes about equality. This survey covers topics about gender dynamics and norms, unpaid caregiving, and life during the COVID-19 pandemic. Aggregated data is available publicly on Humanitarian Data Exchange (HDX). De-identified microdata is also available to eligible nonprofits and universities through Facebook’s Data for Good (DFG) program. For more information, please email dataforgood@fb.com.

Geographic coverage

This survey is fielded once a year in over 200 countries and 60 languages. The data can help researchers track trends in gender equality and progress on the Sustainable Development Goals.

Analysis unit

• Public Aggregate Data on HDX: country or regional levels
• De-identified Microdata through Facebook Data for Good program: Individual level

Universe

The survey was fielded to active Facebook users.

Kind of data

Sample survey data [ssd]

Sampling procedure

Respondents were sampled across seven regions: - East Asia and Pacific; Europe and Central Asia - Latin America and Caribbean - Middle East and North Africa - North America - Sub-Saharan Africa - South Asia

For the purposes of this report, responses have been aggregated up to the regional level; these regional estimates form the basis of this report and its associated products (Regional Briefs). In order to ensure respondent confidentiality, these estimates are based on responses where a sufficient number of people responded to each question and thus where confidentiality can be assured. This results in a sample of 461,748 respondents.

The sampling frame for this survey is the global database of Facebook users who were active on the platform at least once over the past 28 days, which offers a number of advantages: It allows for the design, implementation, and launch of a survey in a timely manner. Large sample sizes allow for more questions to be asked through random assignment of modules, avoiding respondent fatigue. Samples may be drawn from diverse segments of the online population. Knowledge of the overall sampling frame allowed for more rigorous probabilistic sampling techniques and non-response adjustments than is typical for online and phone surveys

Mode of data collection

Internet [int]

Research instrument

The survey includes a total of 75 questions, split across into the following sections: - Basic demographics and gender norms - Decision making and resource allocation across household members - Unpaid caregiving - Additional household demographics and COVID-19 impact - Optional questions for special groups (e.g. students, business owners, the employed, and the unemployed)

Questions were developed collaboratively by a team of economists and gender experts from the World Bank, UN Women, Equal Measures 2030, and Ladysmith. Some of the questions have been borrowed from other surveys that employ alternative modes of administration (e.g., face-to-face, telephone surveys, etc.); this allows for comparability and identification of potential gaps and biases inherent to Facebook and other online survey platforms. As such, the survey also generates methodological insights that are useful to researchers undertaking alternative modes of data collection during the COVID-19 era.

In order to avoid “survey fatigue,” wherein respondents begin to disengage from the survey content and responses become less reliable, each respondent was only asked to answer a subset of questions. Specifically, each respondent saw a maximum of 30 questions, comprising demographics (asked of all respondents) and a set of additional questions randomly and purposely allocated to them.

Response rate

Response rates to online surveys vary widely depending on a number of factors including survey length, region, strength of the relationship with invitees, incentive mechanisms, invite copy, interest of respondents in the topic and survey design.

Sampling error estimates

Any survey data is prone to several forms of error and biases that need to be considered to understand how closely the results reflect the intended population. In particular, the following components of the total survey error are noteworthy:

Sampling error is a natural characteristic of every survey based on samples and reflects the uncertainty in any survey result that is attributable to the fact that not the whole population is surveyed.

Other factors beyond sampling error that contribute to such potential differences are frame or coverage error and nonresponse error.

Data appraisal

Survey Limitations The survey only captures respondents who: (1) have access to the Internet (2) are Facebook users (3) opt to take this survey through the Facebook platform. Knowledge of the overall demographics of the online population in each region allows for calibration such that estimates are representative at this level. However, this means the results only tell us something about the online population in each region, not the overall population. As such, the survey cannot generate global estimates or meaningful comparisons across countries and regions, given the heterogeneity in internet connectivity across countries. Estimates have only been generated for respondents who gave their gender as male or female. The survey included an “other” option but very few respondents selected it, making it impossible to generate meaningful estimates for non-binary populations. It is important to note that the survey was not designed to paint a comprehensive picture of household dynamics but rather to shed light on respondents’ reported experiences and roles within households

In this post, I'll give you all the social media addiction statistics you need to be aware of to moderate your social media use.

Management summary

Decent Wage Bangladesh phase 1

The aims of the project Decent Wage Bangladesh phase 1 aimed to gain insight in actual wages, the cost of living and the collective labour agreements in four low-paid sectors in three regions of Bangladesh, in order to strengthen the power of trade unions. The project received funding from Mondiaal FNV in the Netherlands and seeks to contribute to the to the knowledge and research pathway of Mondiaal’s theory of change related to social dialogue. Between August and November 2020 five studies have been undertaken. In a face-to-face survey on wages and work 1,894 workers have been interviewed. In a survey on the cost-of-living 19,252 prices have been observed. The content of 27 collective agreements have been analysed. Fifth, desk research regarding the four sectors was undertaken. The project was coordinated by WageIndicator Foundation, an NGO operating websites with information about work and wages in 140 countries, a wide network of correspondents and a track record in collecting and analysing data regarding wage patters, cost of living, minimum wages and collective agreements. For this project WageIndicator collaborated with its partner Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS) in Dhaka, with a track record in conducting surveys in the country and with whom a long-lasting relationship exists. Relevant information was posted on the WageIndicator Bangladesh website and visual graphics and photos on the project webpage. The results of the Cost-of-Living survey can be seen here.

Ready Made Garment (RMG), Leather and footwear, Construction and Tea gardens and estates are the key sectors in the report. In the Wages and Work Survey interviews have been held with 724 RMG workers in 65 factories, 337 leather and footwear workers in 34 factories, 432 construction workers in several construction sites and 401 workers in 5 tea gardens and 15 tea estates. The Wages and Work Survey 2020 was conducted in the Chattagram, Dhaka and Sylhet Divisions.

Earnings have been measured in great detail. Monthly median wages for a standard working week are BDT 3,092 in tea gardens and estates, BDT 9,857 in Ready made garment, Bangladeshi Taka (BDT) 10,800 in leather and footwear and BDT 11,547 in construction. The females’ median wage is 77% lower than that of the males, reflecting the gender pay gap noticed around the world. The main reason is not that women and men are paid differently for the same work, but that men and women work in gender-segregated parts of the labour market. Women are dominating the low-paid work in the tea gardens and estates. Workers aged 40 and over are substantially lower paid than younger workers, and this can partly be ascribed to the presence of older women in the tea gardens and estates. Workers hired via an intermediary have higher median wages than workers with a permanent contract or without a contract. Seven in ten workers report that they receive an annual bonus. Almost three in ten workers report that they participate in a pension fund and this is remarkably high in the tea estates, thereby partly compensating the low wages in the sector. Participation in an unemployment fund, a disability fund or medical insurance is hardly observed, but entitlement to paid sick leave and access to medical facilites is frequently mentioned. Female workers participate more than males in all funds and facilities. Compared to workers in the other three sectors, workers in tea gardens and estates participate more in all funds apart from paid sick leave. Social security is almost absent in the construction sector. Does the employer provide non-monetary provisions such as food, housing, clothing, or transport? Food is reported by almost two in ten workers, housing is also reported by more than three in ten workers, clothing by hardly any worker and transport by just over one in ten workers. Food and housing are substantially more often reported in the tea gardens and estates than in the other sectors. A third of the workers reports that overtime hours are paid as normal hours plus a premium, a third reports that overtime hours are paid as normal hours and another third reports that these extra hours are not paid. The latter is particularly the case in construction, although construction workers work long contractual hours they hardly have “overtime hours”, making not paying overtime hours not a major problem.

Living Wage calculations aim to indicate a wage level that allows families to lead decent lives. It represents an estimate of the monthly expenses necessary to cover the cost of food, housing, transportation, health, education, water, phone and clothing. The prices of 61 food items, housing and transportation have been collected by means of a Cost-of-Living Survey, resulting in 19,252 prices. In Chattagram the living wage for a typical family is BDT 13,000 for a full-time working adult. In Dhaka the living wage for a typical family is BDT 14,400 for a full-time working adult. In both regions the wages of the lowest paid quarter of the semi-skilled workers are only sufficient for the living wage level of a single adult, the wages of the middle paid quarter are sufficient for a single adult and a standard 2+2 family, and the wages in the highest paid quarter are sufficient for a single adult, a standard 2+2 family, and a typical family. In Sylhet the living wage for a typical family is BDT 16,800 for a full-time working adult. In Sylhet the wages of the semi-skilled workers are not sufficient for the living wage level of a single adult, let alone for a standard 2+2 family or a typical family. However, the reader should take into account that these earnings are primarily based on the wages in the tea gardens and estates, where employers provide non-monetary provisions such as housing and food. Nevertheless, the wages in Sylhet are not sufficient for a living wage.

Employment contracts. Whereas almost all workers in construction have no contract, in the leather industry workers have predominantly a permanent contract, specifically in Chattagram. In RMG the workers in Chattagram mostly have a permanent contract, whereas in Dhaka this is only the case for four in ten workers. RMG workers in Dhaka are in majority hired through a labour intermediary. Workers in the tea gardens and estates in Chattagram in majority have no contract, whereas in Sylhet they have in majority a permanent contract. On average the workers have eleven years of work experience. Almost half of the employees say they have been promoted in their current workplace.

COVID-19 Absenteeism from work was very high in the first months of the pandemic, when the government ordered a general lock down (closure) for all industries. Almost all workers in construction, RMG and leather reported that they were absent from work from late March to late May 2020. Female workers were far less absent than male workers, and this is primarily due to the fact that the tea gardens and estates with their highly female workforce did not close. From 77% in March-May absenteeism tremendously dropped till 5% in June-September. By September the number of absent days had dropped to almost zero in all sectors. Absenteeism was predominantly due to workplace closures, but in some cases due to the unavailability of transport. More than eight all absent workers faced a wage reduction. Wage reduction has been applied equally across the various groups of workers. The workers who faced reduced earnings reported borrowing from family or friends (66% of those who faced wage reduction), receiving food distribution of the government (23%), borrowing from a micro lenders (MFI) (20%), borrowing from other small lenders (14%), receiving rations from the employer (9%) or receiving cash assistance from the government or from non-governmental institutions (both 4%). Male workers have borrowed from family or friends more often than female workers, and so did workers aged 40-49 and couples with more than two children.

COVID-19 Hygiene at the workplace After return to work workers have assessed hygiene at the workplace and the supply of hygiene facilities. Workers are most positive about the safe distance or space in dining seating areas (56% assesses this as a low risk), followed by the independent use of all work equipment, as opposed to shared (46%). They were least positive about a safe distance between work stations and number of washrooms/toilets, and more than two in ten workers assess the number of washrooms/toilets even as a high risk. Handwashing facilities are by a large majority of the workers assessed as adequate with a low risk. In contrast, gloves were certainly not adequately supplied, as more than seven in ten workers state that these are not adequately supplied. This may be due to the fact that use of gloves could affect workers’ productivity, depending on the occupations.