"Unlocking Women’s Potential in Sri Lanka’s Labour Force ", 15 November 2017

Sri Lanka lags behind in women’s participation in the workforce, especially compared to other middle-income countries.

A new report from the World Bank...confirms that for women marriage can function as a deterrent to participation in labour markets. It can drastically lower a women’s odds—by 26 percentage points—of becoming a paid employee, while for men it slightly increases the odds, by 2.5 percentage points.

...Even as the economy expanded, female labour force participation (FLFP) declined from 41 percent in 2010 to 36 percent in 2016—in fact, Sri Lanka has the 14th-largest gender gap in labour force participation globally. Men’s participation remained above 75 percent during the same time period...

...[I]t’s clear that getting women to work will require deploying ambitious, multi-pronged strategies that address the many issues impacting women’s participation in the workforce. Success will hinge on collaboration between various stakeholders, ranging from relevant government ministries, to education providers, to public sector and especially private sector employers. And in the end, women themselves will have to play a key role in claiming a space for themselves in Sri Lanka’s work force.