Study Report: Unpaid Care work Analysis to Reduce and Redistribute Care Work (Bangladesh, 2026)

Save the Children in Bangladesh (SCI) works to advance gender equality and empower marginalized youth—particularly adolescent girls and young women—through education, skills development, and economic inclusion. Operating in partnership with government and private-sector actors, SCI addresses persistent barriers such as high female dropout rates, limited mobility, early marriage, and safety concerns. These constraints restrict young women’s access to quality vocational training and economic opportunities, especially in rural areas like Kishoreganj district, where female labor force participation and youth employment remain low.

Broader demographic and socioeconomic changes in Bangladesh, including increased female labor force participation and investment in girls’ education, have intensified demands for unpaid care work, which continues to be overlooked in development policy and programming. SCI’s experience demonstrates how entrenched gender norms and unequal care burdens limit women’s participation in skills training and employment initiatives. Without intentional integration of unpaid care considerations, skills development projects risk excluding those most in need. The Skills Project seeks to address these gaps by promoting gender-transformative, inclusive approaches that enable adolescent girls and young women—both in and out of school—to access training, overcome structural barriers, and transition successfully into adulthood and economic independence.