Counting pennies, carrying stress: The mental health impact of low wages on tea garden workers in Sylhet and Moulvibazar
Mahfuj Rabbani, Tabassum Islam Jahin, Tamal Ahammed · 2026
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Description
Mahfuj Rabbani and two co-authors explored how low pay harms tea workers' minds in a 2026 study from Bangladesh. Twelve workers in Sylhet were interviewed in depth, speaking Bengali and the local dialect, about wages and payment practices. The analysis drew out six themes around pay that is too low, paid late, or docked in ways workers cannot predict or see into.
Low base pay drove chronic food insecurity and cycles of debt. Late payments, poor rations, and the care load carried by women sharpened stress further. Workers voiced suffering through local idioms of tension, worry, and irritability. Their own top fixes: fair and sufficient wages, clear payment systems, food security, and reachable health care. The study ties mental well-being to payment governance.
Catalog record
| CREATOR | Mahfuj Rabbani, Tabassum Islam Jahin, Tamal Ahammed |
|---|---|
| YEAR | 2026 |
| COLLECTION | PAPERS |
| FORMAT | TXT |
| FILE SIZE | 96 KB |
| VERSION | 1.0 |
| LICENSE | CC BY 4.0 |
| RIGHTS | CC BY |
| SOURCE | Europe PMC |