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Bangladesh University of Professionals

Submitted by:Anika Tasnim Haque

Roll: 2022151099
Section: A
Department of Finance and Banking, Batch-5
Bangladesh University of Professionals

Submitted to:Dr. Mohammad Mozahidul Islam

Faculty ,Bangladesh Studies
Bangladesh University of Professionals
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Urban poverty in Bangladesh

“Poverty is hunger. Poverty is lack of shelter. Poverty is being sick and
not being able to see a doctor. Poverty is not having access to school and
not knowing how to read. Poverty is not having a job, is fear for the
future, living one day at a time.

Poverty has many faces, changing from place to place and across time, and
has been described in many ways. Most often, poverty is a situation people
want to escape. So poverty is a call to action -- for the poor and the wealthy
alike -- a call to change the world so that many more may have enough to eat,
adequate shelter, access to education and health, protection from violence,
and a voice in what happens in their communities.”
World bank organization describes poverty in this way showing the economic and
social aspects of poverty.

Poverty is a complex societal issue. It is a state or condition in which a person or

community lacks the financial resources and essentials for a minimum standard of
living. Poverty has been associated, for example, with poor health, low levels of
education or skills, an inability or an unwillingness to work, high rates of
disruptive or disorderly behavior, and improvidence.

Historically, poverty belonged to rural areas, but nowadays it is the same in mega
cities and it is estimated that a quarter of the world’s urban population is currently
living in a poverty situation. In last several years, by the population growth
explosion and more and more people choose to living from countryside to city, this
phenomenon was becoming more and more serious. At same time, it made social
problems stand out. Deepening of urban poverty has becoming an unsafe factor in
social and economic. The new problems mix with old problems lead to a variety of
complex social effects.

In the urban context, poverty and vulnerability can be related to three distinctive
characteristics of urban life: commoditization (reliance on the cash economy),
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environmental hazard (stemming from the density and hazardous location of

settlements and from exposure to multiple pollutants), and social fragmentation
(lack of community and of inter household mechanisms for social security,
compared to those in rural areas)

Bangladesh’s rapid urbanization began in the 1980 s, a process initially driven by

rural poverty and hardship rather than industrialized labor market opportunities
.With rapid urbanization during the last few decades, poverty has increasingly been
urbanized by way of transfer of the rural poor to urban areas. But manifestation of
urban poverty is often more terrible than that of rural poverty. According to the
Household Income and Expenditure Survey (2010) of Bangladesh Bureau of
Statistics, the incidence of poverty is 31.5% at the national level, whereas 21.3% in
the urban areas. Most of the urban poor live in slums and squatter settlements
characterized by substandard living conditions. Majority of those living in slums
are very poor. According to a report of Center for Urban Studies (CUS), nearly 80
percent of the households have income below the upper poverty line and 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 misery.
Rapid urban population growth has continued steadily for the last four decades and
is moving Bangladesh towards an urbanized country. The principal driver of this
growth since independence in 1971 has been migration, influenced both by the
urban pull factor of expanding employment opportunities in cities and towns, and
by push factors such as increased population pressure, surplus rural labor, rural
poverty, environmental disasters and climate change. Such rapid and large-scale
growth has posed unique and severe challenges to urbanites, mostly the urban
poor, in the 500+ cities and towns across Bangladesh. The issues of low-quality
housing, inadequate drinking water, drainage and sewerage facilities, pollution and
traffic congestion are ubiquitous, whilst the population of homeless people in cities
is on the rise and slums and squatter settlements have become an integral part of
urban life in Bangladesh.

Addressing urban poverty in Bangladesh

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Although Bangladesh has achieved much in the way of poverty reduction and
human development, progress has been slower in some urban areas. An estimated
21 percent of the population in urban areas lives below the poverty line. People
living in urban areas, like Sylhet, Dhaka, Chittagong, Khulna and Rajshahi enjoy a
better standard of living, with electricity, gas, and clean water supplies. Even in the
major cities, however, "a significant proportion of Bangladeshis live in squalor in
dwellings that fall apart during the monsoon season and have no regular electricity.
These Bangladeshis have limited access to health care and to clean drinking
water."

Issues such as slow-down of quality job growth, low levels of educational

attainment (notably among the youth), and lack of social protection measures have
taken the wind out of the proverbial urban reduction “sail.” Despite the steady
growth in Gross Domestic Product (GDP), successive Household Income and
Expenditure Surveys (2005 to 2010and 2010 to 2016) suggest that the rate of
poverty reduction has been slowing down while the absolute number of extreme
poor have been increasing in urban Bangladesh. Given the accelerating rate of
urbanization, it suggests that more people live in extreme poverty in 2016 than
they did in 2010. With nearly 44% of the country’s population projected to be
living in an urban setting by 2050, this issue is only likely to intensify.
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A core continual problem has been that urban poverty is not accorded the
necessary priority at the national level, and the heart of this is that the urban poor
lack influence and voice in official spaces. While there has been some progress in
political participation in local municipal level, the wider impact has been limited
by the highly centralized nature of national government, and the lack of
appropriate mechanisms through which local demands can influence the national
picture. Until there is a normative shift that recognizes the urban poor as a
legitimate group for government support, urban poverty will continue to face
exclusion from national development plans. The limited understanding and dearth
of information of urban poverty in Bangladesh in terms of scale and measurement
are compounded by the limited understanding the multidimensional vulnerabilities
of urban poverty .The limited spaces for the voices and representation of the urban
poor in official spheres are sure to continue to exacerbate serious challenges that
face the urban poor as well as the development of Bangladesh.

Causes of urban poverty

Urban-rural migration stems from a combination of rural push factors such as
poverty and family impact and urban pull factors such as better economic
prospects, availability of jobs and the presence of migrant relatives. Earlier studies
mostly found economic reasons for migration followed by river erosion, disputes at
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the local level but later studies (especially during the 1990s) identified additional
factors such as economic shocks and natural disasters. It was observed in 2013 that
about three-fourths of the heads of households in the slums of Dhaka and Barisal
adduced their arrival to the cities to seek employment. In contrast, the main reasons
in Sirajganj were reported to be property loss due to river erosion and flooding and
job opportunities.

There are few other variables also driving this pattern. Nonappearance of
instruction and abilities hose work advertise interest and efficiency. Among the
individuals who take an interest in the work power in urban regions, 19% of men
and 28% of ladies are uneducated. For the individuals who got probably some
preparation, an ongoing report shows that lone 51% of eighth-grade understudies
met proportionate competency in the local language subject (Bangla). The figures
were significantly lower for other subjects. Similar trends carry through to
technical diploma and tertiary level institutes. As a result, many prospective
employers report reluctance to hiring fresh graduates.

Because of the above components, about seventy five percent of the work power
are utilized by the informal division, ordinarily described by its increasingly
transient and uncertain nature. This is exacerbated by the about complete
dependence of the urban poor on work as a wellspring of pay given the
nonattendance of security nets.

Urban women are especially burdened. Because of an absence of open vehicle and
concerns around wellbeing, 87% of financially active ladies from the least
fortunate quintile stroll for a normal of 40 minutes to work, along these lines
restricting their entrance to better quality employments past that range.
Subsequently, work showcase cooperation among ladies have been tumbling from
34.5% in 2010 to 31% in 2016.

In spite of the fact that the young speak to the biggest accomplice of working
matured populace, their joblessness rates are among the most elevated (11% versus
1% among more seasoned gatherings). Youth connect more in casual work (89%
versus 83%). Alarmingly, youth additionally speak to the biggest gathering
consigned to the "debilitated employment searcher" class (59% versus 39%).
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Status of urban poor

Employment status of urban poor

Urban poor are for the most part utilized in informal economy, for example,
rickshaw pulling (17 %) lodging laborer ,doorman and so on because of not having
adequate education and skill. As indicated by a report of Center for Urban Studies
(CUS), almost 80 percent of the families have income below the upper poverty line
and in excess of 50 percent of the slum dwellers income less than half of the
poverty line income. Fortunately there is an upward trend in womens’ involvement
in earning as the number of working 2016 was 18.6 million while it was 16.2
million in the year 2010.However the number of working women is significantly
less than the number of male workers.

Assets of urban poor

A survey lead by BBS shows that almost 73.9% of urban poor resides in rented
slums in Dhaka city.The number of urban poor residing i rented houses in Sylhet is
96.3 percent. In terms of nonland assets, the rickshaw pullers who own a
rickshaware also more likely to improve their economic condition. Most of the
slum dwellers enjoy facilities of electric fans,cell phones, televisions etc facilities.
However they are apparently less able to keep savings as according to the report
the rate of making savings in formal institutions.

Partial exclusion from government and NGO supports

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The urban poor have not been well facilitated with governance framework that
supports their efforts to improve flexibility and to access opportunities for upward
mobility. Attention and actions of NGOs and the rural bias government policy
facilitated the situation of rural poor. The rural poor have been benefitted by the
investments in infrastructure, agriculture, human capital, services, social
protection. However the urban poors are neglected by both national and municipal
government as legitimate urban citizens with the rights to voice their concerns not
only their development but the development of their towns.

Challenges for urban poor community

1.The rural bias in the social protection programs: It was widely believed that
expanding major SPPs to urban areas and covering urban poor living in slums would
encourage rural poor to migrate to the cities. With time, however, the belief
regarding the expansion of SPPs has changed but the intrinsic rural bias hasn't. The
urban poor are still excluded from many of the SPPs which their rural counterparts
are receiving.

2. Lack of permanent address and National Identification (NID)Card:

According to the Census of Slum Areas and Floating Population 2014,there are
about 0.6 million people living in slums who are considered as landless and are
unable to register NID
card. A significant number of respondents reported that the absence of the NID card
and any other central registration system impede the ability of slum dwellers in
accessing the social protection programs.

3.Fear of eviction in slums:Due to the lack of permanent ownership and access to

land and housing facilities, the slum dwellers are excluded from their access to a
wide number of social servicesas well as SPPs.

4.Extensive role of locally influential people :A large number of respondents

suggested that, people who are in good terms with the locally influential people get
advantage in receiving benefits from SPPs like different sorts of allowances.

5.Corruption in the suppliers’ end: Massive demand for assistance against

insufficient supply of funds and the lack of legal status of the slum settlements pave
the way for the malpractices.

6. Health vulnerability of slum populations:People living in slums are

particularly vulnerable to health risks. Bad sanitation and hygiene, less than
optimal health care during outbreaks, quality and affordable health care facilities
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that are not physically close to slums, low knowledge and implementation of
prescribed health practices lead to bad infant and child mortality Which are
significantly higher among urban poor than national and state averages. The notion
of slums "illegality" leads to their being excluded from programs and services.
Inadequate and ineffective government health services, ambiguous accountability
and weak communication among various stakeholders, weak linkages between
slum communities and service providers, low demand for services and poor
environmental conditions have an adverse effect on slum dwellers ' health and
nutrition.

7.Vulnerabillity of women: Women for instance, are commonlydiscriminated against

both within the household and inthe workplace. Women's opportunities for
development are constrained by practices that privilege male child education over
girls ' education. The rapid rise in HIV / AIDS among women, particularly in urban
markets along transportation routes, stems from failures in health services to
recognize the need to treat sexually transmitted diseases that make women highly
vulnerable to HIV / AIDS.

8. Poor sanitation issue: Poor sanitation is one of the most accurate indicators of
urban poverty and health problems. The task of interfering in sanitation is to keep
up with the increasing population. Currently, the rate at which community
sanitation programs are introduced is much lower than the rate of overall
population growth, resulting in more underserved people, despite these attempts to
increase coverage. In fact, population growth contributes to overcrowding,
exacerbating the sanitation problem.

Life story narrated by an urban poor

Sonu is a 19 year old resident of a sweeper colony in Narayanganj city. Like the
other members of the colony Sonu’s parents are also pourashava employed cleaner.
She has completed her college graduation and now desires to receive higher
education and work for the betterment of her community.

Sonu shares the story of her community with a NGO supported by UNDP that
depicts the lives of urban poors .
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“Welcome to my community. i come from a community called ‘dalits’ (untoucahable). Dalits are
not created by God, this idea is created by people and society and goes back to the creation of

caste system within the hindu religion.

Illiteracy is one of the problem and another problem is discrimination. Some people understand
that there are good and bad living condition but they cannot escape their bad living conditions
because they face too much discrimination. For example, if dalit children go to school the
teachers do not teach them properly and the classmates’ behavior towards them is horrible. My
community children are very intelligent but sometimes they don’t get the opportunity to go to
school. The school doors are closed to them.

Nobody in my community has their own land but we stay on somebody else’s land. As many of
us work for the municipality, the municipality selects one place and we stay there. If anyone
does not work for the municipality anymore they lose their house. That’s why at least one
member of the family has to work for the municipality. Some people in my community are
government employees and their salary is quite good. But most of my community people work
for the municipality and the salary is not enough. Very few people try to find more jobs so they
can get additional money. But most of them earn money buy selling rubbish like alcohol, ganja,
heroin etc. So when it gets dark in my community a lot of unknown faces come and they buy
this types of drugs. Now my family is full of noise and horrible. These people harass our gorls
and intimidate them. I have no words to explain how bad the situation is.

In my community all of us face problems but girls face more problems than boys. If girls are born
the family members are not happy. They think girls mean a burden to us. The parents provide all
opportunities to the boys but not the girls. Now quite a few boys are educated but very few girls
are. I think if the young people get the opportunity of higher education it is possible to solve the
problems of dalits.”
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Social impact of urban poverty

Poverty has a huge impact on communities – whether through the cost of losing
prosperity and losing contributions to the public purse, or through its side effects
such as the potential for increased social unrest, increased risk of poor health, and
an increased inclination toward social and spatial segregation.

Poverty and crime: It's undeniable that crime ranks high among the effects of
poverty, and those impoverished neighborhoods or whole cities show the same
problems with uneducated adults

Poverty and children: Nearly the potential consequences of poverty have an

impact on the lives of children. Poor infrastructure, unemployment, lack of basic
services and income reflect their lack of education, malnutrition, domestic and
external violence, child labour, all kinds of diseases, transmitted by the family or
through the environment.

One of the effects of poverty on the development of children is to lead them to

create antisocial behavior which acts as psychological defense against their hostile
surroundings. Discrimination and social exclusion often push them toward greater
aggression and less self-control and nuance in response to stressful events. We
have often been abused in their early childhood, and rarely come to a positive way
of dealing with disputes.

Poverty and health: This applies even more to ethnic minorities in whatever
country they This means that the impact of poverty is not only physical but also
very psychological: it affects mental health and human behaviour, in many ways.

Poverty and terrorism: poverty is often blamed for fueling terrorism by creating a
state of misery and frustration that pushes people to join terrorist organizations It
is important to note that terrorists most of the time come from developing
countries with high unemployment, and that terrorist organizations often provide
far higher wages than any other employee if there is any other work at all.
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Reducing urban poverty in Bangladesh

Initiatives to reduce urban poverty should be broad-based and incorporate mutually

reinforcing elements to ensure a healthy and secure living environment for the
poor, enhance their access to income and assets, and encourage the inclusion of
less fortunate people, including marginalized and disabled populations .

Government approach
Old age allowance program: The Government started this program since FY1997-
98. The Ministry of Social Welfare is responsible to implement this program.

Honorarium program for freedom fighters: This program is being implemented

to show due respect to the freedom fighters. An amount of Tk.2,196.06 crore was
assigned for 1.85 lakh freedom fighters in FY2016-17.

Allowance for physically challenged insolvent citizens: The Ministry of Social

Welfare is introducing this social welfare program in order to provide continuous
compensation to the physically challenged insolvent people, the program has
provided an allocation of Tk.540.00 crore for FY2016-17.

Disabled service and health centre: The government launched disabled service
and health centers in FY2009-10 on a five-district pilot basis. The initiative was
later extended across the country. The main purpose of this program is to provide
disabled people with free physiotherapy and other necessary treatment.

Program for improving the livelihood of Bede, hizra and disadvantaged

community: To improve the living standards of certain oppressed minority groups
/ communities such as Dalit, Harijan, Bede and Hizra, a special program has been
introduced by the government.

NGO’s approach
UPPR strategies in poverty reduction: Mobilisation and mobilization of urban
poor communities was at the core of UPPR's strategy to reduce poverty.The
initiatives centered on four outputs:
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(1) Urban poor communities organized to form representative and inclusive

organizations and implement community action plans;
(2) Urban poor communities are living in a safe and secure environment;
(3) Poor urban families gain wealth, knowledge and skills to increase their
incomes and assets
(4) Poor urban policy climate that benefits the poor. The program implemented
a number of strategies and built tools, networks and funds used to achieve
the outputs.

Brac’s activities on urban area

 Empowering entrepreneurs though microfinance.
 Creating access to quality primary and pre primary education.
 Combating sexual harassment in schools.
 Providing community based health services.
 Promoting building measures to reduce he impact of earthquakes.

Other NGOs are working as well for the purpose of alleviating poverty in both
rural and uban areas .NGOs focus on education programme, agricultural
development ,socio economic development, communication facilities, thus creating
an impact on reducing poverty.

However,urban poverty is still posing a great threat fot the society as it directly
affects the environment, social stability and living condition of urban areas. Urban
poverty drivers are deeply embedded in social and political mechanisms that limit
access to better salaries, properties, services and employment opportunities for
low-income residents. One of the biggest barriers facing urban poor is the dynamic
urban political economy. So the government and other related organizations and
NGOs have to address this issue and contribute more in order to address the issue
to facilitate the lives of urban poor and reduce the risks of city dwellers.
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