Business Plus
Too rich for help yet too poor to cope, the group is burning through its last bit of monthly income just to stay afloat
11 HOUR(s)
KN Deya
For many middle-class families, life is built around some common characteristics.Live close enough to urban workplaces without too much trouble. Rent or buy a small flat. Own an air conditioner, perhaps a motorbike or a small car. Eat out once in a while on the weekend. Pay the bills and, if possible, put some money aside at the end of the month.It is not a life of luxury. It is a life of managing what you have and hoping there is enough left over.That calculation is now becoming harder to make as the defining characteristics of middle-class people come under attack from the rising cost of living.Take Rezwana Rahman, a resident of Mohammadpur area in Dhaka. On an overcast morning in August, she unfolded her monthly electricity bill expecting it to be lower than usual.July had been noticeably cooler than the stifling heat of early summer, so the family’s lone air conditioner had barely been used. The pipeline gas supply, which often suffers sudden drops in pressure, had also remained stable. That meant she could cook on the gas stove instead of using the power-hungry induction stove.Rezwana had done the maths. She expected the post-paid bill for her small two-bedroom flat to be comfortably below Tk 2,000. Instead, it was more than Tk 3,000.
