Behind Bangladesh’s garment boom, workers cut food, healthcare as wages fall short

Shilpi Khatun, 27, a garment worker, cooks food in a shared kitchen area outside her one-room house in Gazipur, Bangladesh, on Nov. 6. | REUTERS

Nov 11, 2026

GAZIPUR, Bangladesh – Before dawn each day, garment worker Shilpi Khatun cooks over a wood-fired clay stove because her family cannot afford gas, before heading to a factory in Gazipur, an industrial hub on the outskirts of Dhaka.

The 27-year-old is the sole breadwinner in a household where her husband is unemployed and her parents and in-laws depend on her wages.

Rising prices have left Khatun struggling to afford basic necessities despite five years in the garment industry, a frustration shared by thousands of Bangladesh’s garment workers who staged protests last week demanding the minimum monthly wage be raised to 30,000 taka ($242.82) from 12,500 taka.

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