‘Going hungry’: Garment workers in Bangladesh say wages barely cover needs

Laili Begum, a 37-year-old garment worker near Dhaka, earns about 15,000 taka a month, rising to as much as 20,000 with overtime. Her 15-year-old daughter and 12-year-old son left school because she could not afford their education, and the family often struggles to get one proper meal a day. Begum is among roughly four million garment workers, half of them women, protesting for better wages. The ready-made garment industry generates more than 80 percent of Bangladesh’s export earnings, but workers say their pay no longer covers basic living costs.