Factors Influencing Participation of Female Pineapple Workers in Family Income and Decision Making aspect in Moulvibazar District, Bangladesh

Aims: In today's competitive world, the participation of women in the earning sectors is very common and crucial. But there are several reasons that positively or negatively influence female participation in household income and decision-making. This present study aimed to highlight the determinants which are responsible for the economic contribution and decision-making of female pineapple workers at the household level in some selected areas of the Moulvibazar district, Bangladesh.

Study Design: This article is about examining the factors which affect female workers contribution to household income and decision-making. It is based on empirical analysis and estimates the components that influence the income and decision-making of female pineapple workers at the household level.

Place and Duration of Study: The study was carried out in the Sreemangal Upazila of Moulvibazar district of Bangladesh, including four villages, as the female participation in pineapple cultivation is relatively higher than in other districts of Bangladesh. The research was taking place from June to September 2020 which is the production period of pineapple.

Methodology: The relevant data were collected from 180 respondents through face-to-face interviews using structured questionnaires. The simple random sampling technique was used to choose the sampled respondents. The demographic profile of the female pineapple workers was estimated by using descriptive analysis. To assess the factors influencing female workers contribution to family income and household decision-making, the logistic regression (Logit) model was used. In case to determine the severity that a pineapple female worker faced in their working place, the Constraints Facing Index (CFI) was applied.

Results: From descriptive analysis, the study revealed that 73.0% of the respondents belong to an active working group and the average family size was 6.25. The study's outcome also showed that 54.5% had no formal education, and almost 56.0% of sample respondents incorporated 6 to 10 family members. 52.3% of respondents have 11-30 years of working experience in the pineapple field. From the Logit model, it is shown that the key determinants of contribution to family income and decision-making in the study area were age, education, occupational experience, indebtedness, and savings of the respondents which had a positive value of 1.041, 1.043, 1.095, 1.000 and 0.499, respectively. Instead of having several problems, low wage rate, physical injury, long working hours, lack of working facilities, and lack of training facilities were major among all the respondents.

Conclusion: Lastly, from the respondents viewpoint, it has been summarized that increasing the wage rate, reducing working hours, supply of safety equipment, provide medical and training facilities improve not only their economic position but also ensure a healthy life and fair contribution in household income and decision making purpose.