Breaking Down Poverty in Bangladesh

This book is a compilation of well-researched papers on the issue of poverty in Bangladesh using recent nationally representative household data. It involved breaking down and understanding key trends, determinants and solutions to the multi-dimensional nature of poverty. The book explores the patterns of economic growth and its interface with poverty and offers insights into how government policies have dealt with the challenges of poverty alleviation focusing on the impressive pace of poverty reduction in recent years. It also illustrates how poverty can change due to sudden shocks such as the recent flood price rises and carries out projections on future poverty levels. The book examines the widely varying patterns of progress across geographical divisions and the policy and balance between encouraging migration and investments in the lagging regions. The work also looks at labor market issues, noting how Bangladesh’s shifting demographics provide both an opportunity and a challenge for policymakers. The discussion on education focuses on the returns to public investments and the factors influencing schooling outcomes. The section on health notes how the gap in access and outcomes between rich and poor varies across indicators and suggests measures to improve the effectiveness of public spending. The work on safety nets assesses how the range of programs mitigates the main sources of risk and vulnerability in Bangladesh. Finally, the book discusses how policies to strengthen governance need to be tailored to suit the needs of the poor.