Bangladesh’s domestic care economy—valued at 18.9% of the nation’s GDP—must be formalised to replace exploited child labourers with fairly compensated adult professionals.

While discussions around Bangladesh’s economic ascent typically focus on industrial expansion, export earnings, and GDP growth, a parallel “care economy” operates in the shadows. Sustained by those who maintain households, feed children, and look after the elderly, this sector represents nearly one-fifth of the national economy. According to contributor Nusrat Jahan Puthee, this trillions-of-taka industry could be transformed into a formalised labour market. If properly regulated, it has the potential to create millions of dignified jobs for trained household staff and certified caregivers, backed by legal contracts and fair wages.

However, the sector currently remains invisible and unregulated, underscored by a deep reliance on underage domestic workers. In previous generations, the domestic workforce operated on an unspoken social contract where families housed, fed, and educated poorer relatives in exchange for household help. Today, as urban life grows more transactional, that dynamic has vanished. Seeking fast, inexpensive, and compliant labour, modern households increasingly exploit the most vulnerable demographic: impoverished children from rural areas.

Many employers frame this exploitation as an act of generosity. A common defence for the practice is, “If I do not hire this child, how will their family eat? I am feeding five people back in the village.”

Puthee argues that this is a dangerous justification. Relying on a child’s wages suppresses adult earning potential and traps families in poverty for yet another generation. If employers genuinely wish to assist struggling households, they should hire an adult relative at a fair wage instead.

Recent data from Unicef and the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics indicates that child labour is on the rise, now affecting 9.2% of children aged five to 17. Furthermore, while Bangladesh introduced the Domestic Workers Protection and Welfare Policy in 2015, it functions merely as a document. Without meaningful penalties, home inspections, or enforcement, thousands of children continue to face isolation, verbal and physical abuse, and long shifts while being denied a proper childhood and education.

To overhaul the industry and eliminate child labour, Puthee outlines three essential steps. First, the sector must be formalised, staffed exclusively by adults, and regulated by standardised minimum wages that reflect the work’s true value. Second, the 2015 policy must be upgraded into enforceable law, instituting strict penalties and monitoring for households or agencies employing minors. Finally, society must stop using poverty as a justification; supporting a family means empowering parents to earn a living wage rather than forcing a 10-year-old to shoulder the burden of survival.

Formalising domestic care has successfully boosted female employment and household incomes in other nations. Bangladesh’s care economy remains a massive, untapped opportunity, but it must be rooted in decent work, dignity, and human rights rather than the exploitation of children.

*(Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author, Nusrat Jahan Puthee, and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and views of The Business Standard.)*