Mumbai, April 28

South Asia’s clothing and textiles industry can create millions of jobs for the region’s working-age women, boosting economic growth and helping improve children’s health and education, a World Bank report said.

The industry is already the most female-intensive in much of the region, women making up 71 per cent of its workforce in Sri Lanka, 35 per cent in India and 34 per cent in Bangladesh. In Pakistan, its share of women workers is second to agriculture.

“South Asia needs to create jobs in labour-intensive industries where it enjoys a comparative advantage — such as apparel — to employ its burgeoning youth and attract more women into the workforce,” the report released today said.

“South Asian households with women working, especially in the textile and apparel sector in India and Pakistan, tend to have fewer young children on average,” it said.

Higher wages in China, the world’s largest clothing exporter, are driving global brands to seek cheaper alternatives in countries including Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

South Asia is best placed to lure these businesses with its lower wages and expanding young population, though recent industrial disasters have raised questions about safety and conditions of workers in these countries.

The industry employs about 4.7 million workers in formal sector, and several million more informally, making up about 40 per cent of region’s manufacturing employment.

Its ability to lure unskilled and semi-skilled women is particularly important, as South Asia has one of the lowest female labour force participation rates in the world of about 32 per cent, compared with East Asia’s 62 per cent, the report said.

Countries with greater female labour force participation generally see later marriages, fewer children, better nutrition and school enrolment, and higher GDP, as per World Bank.

“Apparel sector offers a promising and realistic entry point for women into formal labour force, thanks to a high wage premium compared to agriculture,” the report said. “As apparel exports increase, rising demand for female labour pulls women from agriculture and other informal sectors.”

Average wages in the industry range from about $0.51 per hour in Bangladesh to about $1.06 in India, compared with $2.60 in China, as per 2012 data compiled by World Bank.

As output increases to meet higher demand, a one per cent increase in the expected wage raises the likelihood of women joining the labour force by between 16 per cent in Pakistan and 89 per cent in Sri Lanka, the World Bank estimates.

Despite the large number of women the industry employs, however, female workers lack a voice and representation in Bangladesh, the region’s largest exporter by value.

Regulatory capacity is also weak in Bangladesh, even though scrutiny has increased in the wake of the Rana Plaza disaster.

Three years after the disaster that killed over 1,100 factory workers, the rights and safety of workers in the region are in greater focus, but progress in fixing problems in the supply chain is slow, experts and activists say.

The region faces growing competition from Southeast Asian countries including Cambodia, Indonesia and Vietnam. But with stricter controls, better wages and higher-value products, South Asia’s apparel and textile industry can retain its competitive edge, the report said.

“Given that much of apparel production continues to be labour intensive, potential to create more and better jobs is huge.”