Majority of those living in slums are very poor and nearly 80 percent of the households have income below the upper poverty line. More than 50 percent of the slum dwellers earn less than half of the poverty line income while about 25 percent of them are in extreme poverty and destitution". More than 90 percent of the income earners are engaged in informal sector activities. They work mainly as rickshaw-pullers, transport workers, hawkers, day laborers, small factory workers, construction workers, etc. Many of the female members of slum households in Dhaka and Chittagong are employed in the formal sector garment factories and in very large numbers in domestic work as maids. What is interesting, however, is that few among the male slum dwellers remain unemployed because of their easy access to informal sector activities. This is perhaps the most important factor stimulating rural to urban migration.
Majority of those living in slums are very poor and nearly 80 percent of the households have income below the upper poverty line. More than 50 percent of the slum dwellers earn less than half of the poverty line income while about 25 percent of them are in extreme poverty and destitution". More than 90 percent of the income earners are engaged in informal sector activities. They work mainly as rickshaw-pullers, transport workers, hawkers, day laborers, small factory workers, construction workers, etc. Many of the female members of slum households in Dhaka and Chittagong are employed in the formal sector garment factories and in very large numbers in domestic work as maids. What is interesting, however, is that few among the male slum dwellers remain unemployed because of their easy access to informal sector activities. This is perhaps the most important factor stimulating rural to urban migration.
['Women and other genders', 'Informal sector workers', 'Persons living in poverty']