Nearly 3 Lakh women to join Dhaka workforce by 2028

Uber, Bangladesh’s most preferred ride-hailing app, today released a pioneering research report that sheds light on the transformative role of ride-hailing platforms in empowering women and fostering economic opportunities in Bangladesh.

The industry report, titled “Ride-Hailing: A Platform for Women’s Economic Opportunity in Bangladesh,” unveils a compelling view of how these services are playing a transformative role in bringing more women into the workforce.

The study reflects how ride-hailing services have become a vital vehicle for women to access the workforce or move up the ladder to achieve financial independence and makes projections about how:

• Access to mobility could increase female workforce in Dhaka by over 13% by 2028
• With ride-hailing boost to women – Nearly 3 lakh women will join Dhaka workforce
• This bump up could result in a boost to the size of Dhaka’s economy by over 1.5% by 2028

Commenting on the report, Nur Mohammad Mazumder, Chairman (GR-1), BRTA, said: “Access to safe and reliable transportation is crucial for women’s economic empowerment, and ride-hailing services play a significant role in addressing this need.

The findings of Uber’s research report align with our efforts to promote gender equality and create opportunities for women in the workforce. We commend initiatives like this that contribute to improving women’s mobility and fostering economic inclusion in Bangladesh.”

Nasheed Ferdous Kamal, Country Head at Uber Bangladesh, said: “Uber has been an important engine of economic growth and opportunity in Bangladesh since 2016.

Greater women’s participation in the workforce is vital for Bangladesh to realise its economic potential. This research by Oxford Economics highlights how safe, reliable commuting options could get more women to participate in the workforce.

I’m heartened to see how Uber and other ride hailing options are helping solve this ‘gender commute gap’ by providing women a safe and convenient option to get to work, whether directly or to their nearest mass transit station.

Uber is proud to help Bangladeshi women take part in the country’s economic success story – today and in the future.”

Bali Kaur Sodhi, Lead Economist, Oxford Economics, said, “Women around the world still participate less than men in paid work.

The issue is not that women are less educated or less qualified; it largely reflects the fact that women still take the burden of household and care work, especially in emerging markets.

This report gives an evidence-based policy recommendation for adoption of technology in helping remove mobility barriers for women to enter the workforce or move up in their careers.

The research report also draws from a survey conducted on-ground in Dhaka. In partnership with Uber, Oxford Economics conducted a survey of Uber riders to gain a comprehensive understanding of the ride-hailing behaviours of women and men across Dhaka.

It reveals interesting insights into the impact of ride-hailing on women’s workforce participation:

• Joining the Workforce: Over one in three working women riders agreed that the availability of ride-hailing services enabled them to join the workforce.

• Work-Family Balance: Nearly half of the working women surveyed said that ride-hailing services helped them balance their time across work and family, and manage a flexible arrangement at work.

• Safety as a Priority: Nearly nine in 10 of the women surveyed who use ride-hailing to commute to work said they did so because it offered a safer option than alternative travel modes.

• Access to Opportunities: Nearly three in 10 working women riders agreed that the availability of ride-hailing services enabled them to access a wider pool of suitable work opportunities.

Women in Bangladesh have lower labor force participation rates than their global peers.

Compared with a worldwide female labor force participation rate of 47% in 2022, the figure for Bangladesh was 43%.

As per the report, the two biggest challenges to women’s mobility are a lack of access to safe transport and the current imbalance in their work-family arrangements.

Commissioned by Uber – Oxford Economics, an independent global advisory firm, has authored the report which illuminates the important subject of women’s participation in the workforce and offers a glimpse into the potential economic benefits to the individuals and the larger economy that can be realized by 2028.

To estimate the economic benefits from increasing access to ride-hailing, Oxford Economics was given access to anonymised and aggregated proprietary data from Uber.