For many years now, India has celebrated the fantastic economic growth of Bangladesh — measured in numbers: rising GDP, swelling industries, expanding exports and increasing urbanisation. Yet there is an alternative narrative behind those numbers: the unsung fight of the middle class attempting to maintain a way of life that once seemed inextricably linked to economic expansion.
Here is where the hope of the Bangladeshi middle class was founded. Underpinned by the notion that if you worked hard, you played by the rules — a young worker would buy their dream home, educate their kids through a great school system with access to quality healthcare, a car and perhaps now and again go on an inexpensive family holiday, gradually building towards some savings for retirement. This was the dream of progress.
The dream is still alive but comes with a heftier price tag in 2023. The middle class is not necessarily becoming poor, but many families believe they are stuck in place with the price of getting ahead constantly going up. They make more money than previous generations, but they feel like they can afford less. What others do not see, however, is the struggle behind closed doors — in postponed purchases, curtailed luxuries, smaller gatherings and hushed mental maths.
The middle class of Bangladesh is adapting and learning to live with less. The most obvious example of this pressure has been housing. A lot of city families have gone from being able to own property to it being a pipe dream. Increasing land prices and the price of apartments have pushed property ownership outside the reach of numerous young employees. Even rent is becoming such a large proportion of monthly income that it is starting to become an existential problem.
The dream apartment has shrunk. The place has become far less preferable. Parents or children having to settle for an extra room has become a luxury. Households are compromising not by choice but necessity — making do with less.
Education — once middle-class families’ safest investment — is also becoming harder and harder to afford. Education remains sacrosanct, with parents continuing to make sacrifices because they think it is the surest route to a better future. They spend on schools, coaching, technology and university preparation, often at the cost of their own needs.
But a brutal unknown has joined the mix: does spending more on education any longer guarantee a safe future?
Another level of stress is healthcare. While a middle-class family can make do with the day-to-day, one serious illness can wipe out decades of savings. There are alternatives in private healthcare, but the catch is that many families cannot afford this option. Medical emergencies are not only health issues any more; these can be make-or-break events.
Food habits are changing too. Quietly, families are changing how they consume. They are more careful with price comparisons; they switch brands; they cut back on non-essential expenses and, in fact, definitely think twice about things they used to go out and buy. The changes are not visible on the surface, but at home, every decision is a calculation.
Transport is also becoming an increasing challenge. The private car once signalled the successful middle class. Today, families are asking themselves whether they can afford the constant costs associated with filling fuel tanks, maintenance, parking and repairs. They have learned to budget for convenience.
Simultaneously, digital services have become inescapable. Just like the internet, smartphones, online education, digital payments and entertainment platforms have become integral elements of a normal life. This all creates new financial pressure. Families are placed in a situation of balancing connectivity with controlled expenses.
One of the first things that goes is leisure — a badge now popularly celebrated as a comfortable life. Family trips become less frequent. Restaurant visits become occasional treats. Entertainment choices become more selective. The middle class still puts in long hours, but many do so with the belief that far too little of that work is theirs to claim.
But most worryingly, with both the rising cost of living and wages falling behind inflation, the room to save is shrinking — ever so painfully.
When the middle class is stable, savings form the bedrock of that stability. They symbolise protection in times of emergency and optimism for future objectives. It is one thing when the cost of living rises faster than salaries, and savings slowly go to zero. Even families with apparently secure jobs are only a few people on their contact lists away from being down to their last Tk500.
It fosters a new breed of insecurity — not the insecurity of being poor or unemployed, but the insecurity of being at a standstill despite having ticked every box.
Middle-class aspirational consumption is nothing new. Achievements were depicted as a better phone, a nicer home, branded clothes, private schooling and mobility-oriented lives. But these aspirations are becoming more complicated today. Social media constantly flashes lifestyles that a lot of families want but are not financially able to have or are nowhere near being on the right path.
It is not just this pressure to purchase. This is about maintaining a successful appearance.
But Bangladesh’s middle class is much more than just the story of a struggle. It has a history of endurance too. Families are struggling to adjust, making intentional choices, without support, and striving to make the best of difficult circumstances.
But a society cannot rely forever on people merely readjusting their aspirations downwards.
Economic advancement has to do with more than just the number of buildings that go up, the amount of growth achieved by the economy or how many goods are exported. It’s whether everyday people feel safe in their daily lives. It is whether a teacher, an engineer, a small business owner or a fresh graduate can gaze upon their future unafraid.
Because that is what the middle class asks for: less luxury and more dignity. It seeks a house that does not feel out of reach, healthcare that does not seem like a nightmare, education that seems worth it and a life where toil leads to a greater-than-zero sense of security — rather than continuous negotiation.
The middle class has been the hope and foundation for Bangladesh for generations. They saved and sacrificed; they put in the grind, all so that tomorrow could be better than today.
Now they are asking a simple question:
If the economy is booming, why does life feel harder?
The answer will determine not just the fate of the middle class but also that of Bangladesh.
Because the measure of a country’s progress is not in how high its economy can climb — but in how many can climb with it.
The writer is a public relations professional
Views expressed are solely those of the author
