• Majority of working age population remains economically inactive 
• Over 71% of economically inactive population are women 

Sri Lankans above the age of 15 are considered its working age population. As per the 2023 Labour Force Survey of the Department of Census and Statistics (DCS) and the 2024 census, this is about 79.5% out of the total population of the country. 

However, only 48.6% out of the working age population is currently employed or actively seeking jobs, qualifying as Sri Lanka’s labour force. In other words, 51.4% remains economically inactive. 

While this includes young people engaged in studies (23.6%) and senior citizens who are unable to work or are retired (21%), the greater number of 42.4% are those engaged in housework. 

Economically inactive women

Out of the population which is considered economically inactive, 71.7% are women. Out of these, 57.2% are care workers in their homes. According to the Women and Media Collective (WMC), there remains a gap in the inclusion of the care dimension in the labour force when it comes to policy. 

In a policy brief released in 2023, the WMC noted that housework or unpaid care work posed challenges and inhibited women from seeking, obtaining, and retaining employment. While policies and programmes were implemented to get women into the workforce, it observed that these programmes fell short in addressing the gender dynamics behind the issue. 

The WMC further noted that women carried out most of the care work and that it was viewed as a woman’s responsibility. It further highlighted the need to assess the value of the work done in the home. It was also said in the brief that if care work was distributed among both men and women in the household, it might create more room for women to take up paid work. 

Institute of Policy Studies (IPS) Director of Research Dr. Nisha Arunatilake said that when women were encouraged to join the labour force, it should be ensured that good jobs were available with adequate support to manage household responsibilities. 

As such, it was her opinion that the present number of economically inactive women was not a burden. 

“If they are compelled to be economically inactive because of a lack of good jobs and lack of support for managing household responsibilities, then it can be a burden,” she told The Sunday Morning. 

However, the Government feels that the current statistics in economic inactivity, especially the rates among women, need to be addressed.  

The labour force needs to be increased with special attention paid to increasing the participation of women in the labour force, according to Deputy Minister of Labour Mahinda Jayasinghe, who spoke to The Sunday Morning. He said that the Government was hoping to implement this through means such as bringing in laws to address workplace harassment against women. 

The Deputy Minister added that the Government hoped to ratify the International Labour Organization’s (ILO) Violence and Harassment Convention No.190 of 2019 (C190) in Sri Lanka. 

“Convention 190 was brought in 2019, but it was not ratified in Sri Lanka. We are hoping to ratify it here in a way that suits us,” he said.

Furthermore, Jayasinghe said that it was necessary to resolve the gender pay gap, noting: “The salary paid to a female security officer is less than one for a male counterpart. There is no reason for such an inequality.”

Present status of the labour market

Commenting on the present status of the labour market, Dr. Arunatilake said that a decline in total unemployment showed signs of improved economic activity. 

“Total unemployment has decreased from the 4.7% it was at in the third quarter of 2023 to 4.2% in the fourth quarter of 2024,” she noted. 

However, she added that there was a need to improve access to good jobs for the labour force. According to her, the majority of workers in Sri Lanka are low-skilled workers outside the Western Province. 

“These people mainly rely on agriculture and low-end manufacturing and service sector jobs,” she said, noting that the country should facilitate the creation of jobs for high-skilled workers. 

Increase in female unemployment

Despite the decline in overall unemployment, Dr. Aruntilake noted that female unemployment had increased during the aforementioned period from 6.7% to 7.2%. 

The economically active population or the labour force consists of those who are employed and unemployed. Since women in the labour force are also expected to continue their care roles, it is seen that decisions they make concerning employment are informed by the opportunity provided by work circumstances to perform these roles concurrently.

“Females usually wait for good jobs, as it is costlier for them to engage in economic activities given their other responsibilities,” said Dr. Arunatilake. 

According to her, female unemployment indicates that the quality of jobs in the market needs to improve.

She observed that current legislation made it expensive for employers to hire women as the cost of providing women with paid maternity leave and special provisions for women engaged in night work had to be borne by the employer. 

“This can be difficult for small firms. The ILO recommends that social protection measures like paid maternity leave be financed through a fund,” she added. 

The Sunday Morning learns that the Government is currently in the process of discussing the matter of employers having to bear social protection costs. Deputy Minister Jayasinghe said that they had paid attention to costs borne by employers in offering paid leave to pregnant women.

“We are exploring whether some established funds could be utilised in this,” he said.

Meanwhile, Dr. Arunatilake said that unemployment could be caused by people not being favourably disposed towards jobs that were available to them due to reasons such as the lack of room and flexibility to perform care roles while being employed.  

Unemployment among youth and the educated

When looking at age groups, the majority of the unemployed are between 15 and 24 years of age (23%). DCS statistics from 2023 show that these are new entrants to the job market or new job seekers. 

According to Dr. Arunatilake, current legislations indirectly affect the access to suitable jobs for women and youth, a fact that indicates the requirement of legal reforms. According to her, current legislation has been written taking nine-to-five jobs into consideration.

“There is now a demand for part-time jobs and more flexible job arrangements. Legislation should clearly define part-time jobs and how to provide social protection for such jobs,” she noted.

When asked whether reforms to include part-time work were being considered, the Deputy Minister of Labour told The Sunday Morning that the matter had not arisen in discussions thus far. 

“So far, the issue has not been raised. If it comes up, we will address it in the future,” said Jayasinghe. 

Meanwhile, when considering women, unemployment is highest among those with education above the Advanced Levels. 

Joint Unemployed Graduates’ Association Secretary Dhammika Munasinghe told The Sunday Morning that the majority of graduates demanding jobs were women. There were not only arts graduates among them but also those with commerce and science degrees, he claimed, alleging that there was an attempt to create an impression that those demanding degrees were arts graduates. 

He further noted that while those who were demanding jobs were open to taking up private sector jobs, the lack of job security offered by the latter sector made State sector jobs preferable. 

“If there is job security, they are willing to join,” Munasinghe said, adding that Sri Lanka needed to recognise employment as a right. 

In terms of creating employment, Dr. Aruntilake said that the creation of decent employment opportunities was important, noting that many policies promoted creating jobs without taking into account the quality of the jobs created.