Getting to Work: Unlocking Women’s Potential in Sri Lanka’s Labor Force • Sri Lanka has the 14th-largest gender gap Labor Force Participation Rates, in labor force participation globally: 36% for Sri Lanka and Comparators, 1990-2016 women versus 75% for men in 2016. 90 • Despite significant progress in women’s 80 70 health and education, female labor force %, ages 15+ 60 participation in Sri Lanka has remained 50 consistently below middle income country 40 averages and even declined in recent years. 30 • This presents a significant challenge to the 20 country’s growth and equity goals. With the 10 0 rapidly aging population, it is imperative to 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 bring more women into the work force. Sri Lanka Female Sri Lanka Male • Young women have the highest Middle Income Female Sub-Saharan Africa Female unemployment rate in Sri Lanka (29% for Source: World Development Indicators, 2017 the 15-24 age group in 2016), and the gender gap in youth unemployment has widened Women’s versus men’s average monthly wage – all provinces, all since the end of the civil war. sectors, 2015 • Women are paid less than men in both the Men’s average public and private sectors. monthly wage: • While the raw gender wage gap has narrowed over time, it is increasingly Women’s average monthly wage: 20,840 determined by discrimination and less so by qualifications. 17,730 • Women are concentrated in low skill jobs The gap is and find it even harder to move up the ladder now than before the end of the conflict. 14.9% Source: World Bank, Getting to Work: Unlocking Women’s Potential in Sri Lanka’s Labor Force, 2017 What is holding Sri Lankan women back from realizing their economic potential? 1) Household roles and 2) Human capital mismatch 3) Gender discrimination responsibilities Women are not entering educational fields Both quantitative and qualitative analysis Housework and care for children and the or acquiring the skills that are demanded reveal gender discrimination in job search, elderly falls disproportionally on women. by the labor market. In part encouraged hiring, and promotion processes. Women Marriage and childbirth undermines by parents, men are more likely to study face significant barriers in entering high- women’s labor market activity while engineering and computer science while skill and management jobs. They are also marriage enhances men’s labor market women prefer to queue for scarce public at high risk of gender-based violence activity. Women’s participation in the labor sector jobs. Furthermore, women are on public transportation (80 percent of force is further impeded by social norms vastly underrepresented in technical and women experience sexual harassment against women’s mobility outside the vocational education and training (TVET), while using public transportation), in home. partly due to the lack of transportation. other public spaces, and at workplaces. Recommendations 1 Recommendation Reduce barriers to women’s participation in paid work, particularly through child care services and safe transportation. 2 Recommendation Strengthen girls’ and boys’ early orientation to career development and to acquiring the education and skills that prepare them for labor markets. 3 Recommendation Educational institutions should better prepare female students and match them to high skill and high paying jobs. 4 Recommendation Ensure gender equal labor laws and nondiscriminatory workplace environments through ethical branding and zero tolerance policies toward sexual harassment. WorldBankSriLanka @WorldBankSAsia www.worldbank.org/srilanka