Social Justice
Gender Equality
Women’s and girls’ rights, education, work and safety — from child marriage to the classroom.
1 research article · 2 data insights
Child marriage is falling, but slowly
Half of Bangladeshi women still marry as children
Bangladesh has cut child marriage from nearly three in four young women in the 1990s to under half today — but it still has the highest rate in South Asia, and progress is far too slow to meet the country's own targets.
By DEEPLAB Research Team
Twice as many men as women are in the labour force
Only about four in ten Bangladeshi women are in the labour force
Women's labour force participation rose from 24% in 1990 to a peak of 44% in 2022, then slipped to 39% in 2024 — still half the rate for men (81%).
By DEEPLAB Research Team
Girls overtook boys in secondary school — and the gap has widened
Girls now outnumber boys in Bangladesh's secondary schools
Secondary enrolment for girls caught up with boys around 2000 and has pulled clearly ahead since — helped by stipend programmes that pay families to keep daughters in school.
By Mohiuddin Al Helal