ASSESSING SOCIO-ECONOMIC STATUS OF TEA GARDEN WORKERS IN SYLHET DISTRICT

Abstract

Tea is a profitable labor intensive crop in Bangladesh but the socio-economic condition of its worker is very poor. The purpose of this study is to assess the socioeconomic

status of tea garden workers and explore the contribution of the selected characteristics of the tea garden workers in their socio-economic status. The selected characteristics were age, level of education, family size, monthly income, dowry in marriage, access to credit, working experience, communication media exposure, risk faced by the workers. The study was conducted at three gardens of Tukurbajar union under Sylhet Sadar Upazila during 7 June to 27 June, 2017. Data were gathered from 109 tea garden workers using interview schedule. Stepwise multiple regression was used to examine the contribution of the selected characteristics of the tea garden workers on their socio-economic status. The findings revealed that the majority of the workers had low socio-economic status (34.9 percent) whereas 33 percent workers had very low socio-economic status and 32.1 percent had medium socio-economic status. Stepwise multiple regression exposed that family size, working experience, communication media exposure, age and level of education had significant contribution on socio-economic status and which contribute 19.8 percent of the total variation. Tea garden workers faced higher risk in „lack of sufficient food due to insufficient ration‟ followed by „lack of sufficient housing facilities‟, „lack of educational facilities‟. Economic capital of tea garden workers should be focused with proper importance to improve their socio-economic status.