Slum Dwellers in Dhaka City: Life, Struggle and the Untold Reality

A household does not function in isolation. It requires support and cooperation of neighbours. In both urban and semi-urban areas, families depend heavily on nearby workers, including men and women from surrounding slums and low-income settlements. These individuals provide essential services such as cleaning, cooking assistance, childcare, security support, transport help, and other forms of informal labour that keep households running smoothly. In fact, many middle- and high-income families would have to struggle to manage their daily responsibilities without their contribution. This reality reflects an important social truth: no society functions without interdependence. Although these workers often remain invisible in formal economic records, their role is crucial in maintaining urban life and household stability.

Despite their importance, these people are frequently underpaid, undervalued, and lack proper social protection. Their well-being is often overlooked. A large number of these workers live hand to mouth, having once owned land, homes, livestock, or agricultural assets, only to lose them due to economic hardship, disasters, or displacement. Although various commitments have been made to improve their conditions, in practice many of these promises remain unfulfilled.

Every day, thousands of people continue to arrive in Dhaka in search of survival. Some of them come from river erosion areas, disaster-prone villages, landless households, and unemployed rural labour groups. Most have no stable income, no land, and no safety net. They are not migrating for opportunity alone but for basic survival. Over time, this continuous movement has contributed to the growth of one of the largest slum populations in South Asia.

Dhaka is home to an estimated 3.5 to 4 million slum dwellers, living in more than 4,000 to 5,000 slum settlements. Research indicates that around 40 per cent of the city’s population lives in informal or slum conditions, as highlighted in studies by the World Bank, UN-Habitat, and PubMed Central. Major settlements such as Korail, Kamrangirchar, and Mirpur host extremely dense populations under fragile living conditions.
Life inside these settlements is marked by insecurity, overcrowding, and continuous struggle. Families live in small tin or bamboo rooms where five to eight people often share a single space. Access to safe water, sanitation, drainage, and electricity remains limited and unsafe.

Most residents survive through informal labour. Men work as rickshaw pullers, construction workers, transport helpers, waste collectors, and street vendors. Women are widely engaged in domestic service, garment factories, cleaning jobs, and home-based work. Many women work in multiple households without contracts or legal protection. These employment patterns are well documented in studies by the Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies, the International Labour Organization, and World Bank urban labour assessments.

Their daily income remains extremely low, often between a few hundred and a thousand taka per day. A large share is spent on rent and food, leaving almost nothing for education, healthcare, or savings. Yet despite their poverty, slum dwellers make a significant economic contribution. According to estimates from the International Labour Organization and World Bank informal economy studies, the urban informal sector in Bangladesh contributes over 30 to 35 per cent of national GDP, with a major share generated in Dhaka. Slum workers form a large portion of this workforce, supporting urban services worth billions of taka annually through transport, construction, domestic work, small trade, and waste recycling systems. 

Children growing up in slum settlements live under extreme vulnerability. Their childhood is shaped by uncertainty, deprivation, and limited access to basic services. Education is often irregular or interrupted due to financial hardship, child labour, or lack of nearby schools. 

Health risks are severe in slum areas. According to UNICEF Bangladesh and the World Health Organization, unsafe water, poor sanitation, and overcrowding lead to widespread diseases such as diarrhoea, respiratory infections, and skin conditions. Malnutrition affects both physical and cognitive development. Meanwhile, fear of eviction, violence, and lack of safe spaces deeply affect mental development. Researchers have found that slum children are among the most disadvantaged groups in South Asia. Slum dwellers also face deep social exclusion. Despite their economic contribution, they are often treated as outsiders. Access to formal banking, healthcare, legal protection, and housing rights remain limited.

Studies by the World Bank, UN-Habitat, and Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies indicate that extreme poverty and lack of opportunity can increase vulnerability to informal or illegal activities in some areas. However, the majority of slum residents are law-abiding citizens struggling for survival. Concerns about youth involvement in crime often reflect systemic governance failures rather than community behaviour.

Ensuring a stable and dignified life for slum dwellers is a shared responsibility. The government holds the primary responsibility for policy and planning in this regard. City corporations and urban development authorities must provide affordable housing, basic services, and legal protection to them. Fair wages and decent working conditions must be ensured for them as an effort to ensure social justice. Besides, civil society and NGOs can support education, awareness, and community development. Their social protection and financial inclusion must also be strengthened. Affordable housing schemes, improved sanitation, access to healthcare, education, and skill development programmes are essential to break their cycle of poverty. At the same time, strengthening rural livelihoods is essential to reduce migration pressure.
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The writer is a freelancer