The Female Labour Force Participation Rate at 32.8% currently (this is for the population above 15 years of age), it is at around 25% using the whole population. The World Bank graph in the WSJ says 25%

The Female Labour Force Participation Rate in Bangladesh is per the Quarterly Labour Force Survey 2022, Bangladesh, Provisional Report, Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS), March 2023, is based on the population of above 15 years of age.

Another thing to note is that the usually quoted figures from India are based on “Usual status (ps+ss)” which is based on activities over a specified 365 days. Bangladesh only uses what in India is called “CWS” – Current weekly status” which is based on activities during a specified week. India collects CWS also in its survey. The CWS numbers are slightly lower than Usual status numbers.

I have to rush to work, but will write up something later.

The only reason to bet against Bangladesh is the recent Islamist scourge. They have the advantage in almost every other area.

China’s TFR is sufficiently low that the advantage of high female labor participation will be neutralized in a single generation. And unfortunately for East Asia, high female labor participation makes it that even harder to raise TFR.

In the long run I’d bet on India over Bangladesh.

There’s no doubt that Vietnam and Indonesia will trounce India by miles. It won’t even be close.

I think at a super high level, with tons of nuances and wrinkles ignored, honor culture is more intense in the northern and western parts of the Indian subcontinent. E.g., north India, Pakistan. I think it’s a little bit less intense in southern and eastern parts of the Indian subcontinent. E.g., south India, Bangladesh.

Some have hypothesized that this may have some nexus to the south and the east being traditionally rice cultivating regions while the north and the west being traditionally wheat growing regions. That’s just one hypothesis.

Your mention of Social Honor Loss in this context prompts my question. Did Bangladesh experience any changes in FLPR or other aspects of female public behavior following the mass rapes during the Bangladesh Liberation War? This was obviously long before the current modernization trend, so I guess I am asking if there is evidence that concerns with respect to male honor changed as a result of the war. (I’m a white male American boomer, so very unfamiliar with conditions in Bangladesh)