Sri Lankan female labour force declines to 33%

Sri Lanka took almost four decades to double its female labour force participation rate from about 19% in 1953 to 36 % in 1990.

Since then, the female labour force participation rate has averaged just 33 % and has been on a declining trend in recent years.

Although Sri Lanka is ahead of the South Asian average of 24 %, the country’s female labour force participation remains much lower than the ‘upper middle income’ country average of 55% according to the Central Bank annual report -2021.

 The continued stagnation of the female labour force participation is a key policy issue to be addressed as the economy struggles with a rapidly ageing population, labour productivity issues and increasing migration, especially of skilled and semi-skilled workers.  With due consideration for considerable investments that consecutive governments have made in the education and health sector over the last seven decades, it is noted that bringing women into the labour force and thereby creating an expansion of the labour force can have significant positive impacts on the growth process of the country, while also ensuring the efficacy of such investments, amid limited fiscal space. 

Initiatives in this regard should also focus on ensuring that women avail of ‘decent work’, as outlined in the SDGs. The need to engage women in ‘decent work’ is underscored by the developments arising due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which has caused a rise in the socioeconomic vulnerability of women as they tend to be employed in vulnerable jobs in the services or agriculture sectors and are more likely to be underpaid or engaged under less favorable working terms.

Since long, there has been a broad consensus that policies focused on alleviating the ‘triple burden’ of women and thereby enhancing female labour force participation, an element lacking in Sri Lanka. This is evident from the dearth in

the availability of affordable and regulated childcare or elderly care facilities, the absence of flexible working arrangements and the lack of reliable and safe modes of public transportation – international experiences highlight these as essential to improve the female labour force participation.

Developing such infrastructure can lead to better absorption of females into the labour force thereby paving way for an increase in overall welfare through the increase in the productive resource base of the economy.

Over the medium term, the higher levels of household incomes can translate into improved education and nutritional outcomes for future generations, thereby contributing to consistent improvements in the productivity of the labour force.

Accordingly, it is vital to devise a targeted, holistic and multi sectoral policy initiative that supports stronger diversity and inclusion in a gender sensitive manner. (IH)