Difference between the rich and the poor in Bangladesh is still huge: BBS

Differences between the rich and the poor remain pronounced even as Bangladesh jumps to the lower-middle income country category, a survey has revealed.

More than half of the stunted children in Bangladesh are from the poor families, a Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics report published on Sunday said.

Twenty-seven percent of stunted children are from rich families.

According to the ‘Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey’, 42 percent of children in the country under the age of five are stunted.

The national statistics agency surveyed about 60,000 families from 64 districts with UNICEF help.

It notes that the number of maternal and child deaths are rising, as 73 percent of poor families do not get expert midwife during childbirth. 

But as many rich families get expert midwife assistance during childbirth.

“There is a huge difference between families living in the city and rural areas on social index although Bangladesh has made significant progress in women and children development,” the report says.

The percentage of child marriage, too, was higher among poor families than the rich.

About 53 percent families surveyed said they had married off their daughters before the age of 18. Eighteen percent families said their daughters were married off before 15.

But health aspects were satisfactory, Project Director Dr Dipankar Roy said.

Only four percent of the people had no access to sanitation, the survey found.

Ninty-six percent of rich families have access to improved sanitation facilities while the percentage is 46 among the poor families.

Bandarban ranked at the bottom in this category, while Madaripur topped the list.

The report notes that members of poor families do not get even a faction of facilities accessed by rich families.

“Members of rich families lead in various categories like health, nutrition and sanitation by a huge margin,” it adds.