- Families shouldering the Herculean and Sisyphean burdens of the economic crisis narrate tales of woe of parents buckling under overwork, children seeking futures overseas, spouses forced to migrate leaving significant others/newborns behind, while all teeter on the abyss of deteriorating mental health and shattered familial bonds
“The ongoing economic downturn is not just an economic issue but a personal one. It shattered the relationship that I had with my husband to a great extent, as he now works over 18 hours a day after losing his job last (2022) November, and my older son is leaving the country in a few weeks for employment, as he sees no future in Sri Lanka. Earning has become the main priority.”
This is what 51-year-old former apparel sector worker and fulltime housewife at present, Kamala Peiris (name changed on request), is going through in the context of the prevailing economic crisis. She laments that even though her family members focusing on earning more money is a necessity in order to make ends meet, it has taken away the peace and unity that she had in her family, despite being a low-income one.
Not just Peiris, many families of lower-middle and low-income economic classes are experiencing similar situations. While the economic crisis has compelled many families to focus more on saving and earning money, that situation, in turn, has affected their mental health, familial bonds, social life, education, and physical wellbeing. However, the bitter impacts of the economic crisis on the family unit do not stop there, and a number of incidents that were reported during the past few months prove it. Among them were parents abandoning children citing economic issues, clashes between spouses due to tensions arising from economic hardships, and also several deaths, which were attributed to economic challenges, where the parents had murdered their children before dying by suicide.
Impact on familial bonds
Even though the economy has reached a certain state of stability in economic terms, and inflation and goods’ shortages have been managed to a significant extent, the issues emanating from the results of the economic crisis are not merely economic. As was noted during interviews conducted by The Daily Morning with members of the general public, household-level economic hardships have negatively impacted their families’ mental health and the unity within families.
These struggles were explained by Peiris: “Not so long ago, I had plenty of time to spend with my husband, who is a building painter by profession, and with my daughter and two sons. However, a serious need to earn money has arisen due to the economic decline and the resultant loss of my husband’s job. My husband now works a lot more than he used to, sometimes around 18 hours a day, in order to maintain the family, and while my elder son, who wanted to enter a local university, is getting ready to leave the country seeking a job in Dubai (in the United Arab Emirates). My younger son is also eager to leave the country once he finishes his studies.”
This situation, she added, has affected the bond between family members. She added that her husband’s role has been overtaken by his role as the family’s breadwinner and that it has affected her relationship with him, while her older son, who she wants to stay in Sri Lanka, is soon to depart the family before he turns 22 years. “Earning more is the solution to economic issues. But, it creates a host of other issues including the collapse of familial bonds that cannot be solved with money,” she lamented, adding that she sees stress in all family members, as they all have been affected by the said situation in one way or another.
Those who spoke with The Daily Morning pointed out that migration for employment is one of the key factors that have affected familial bonds. People having to leave their elderly and ill parents, newly married wives and newborn children, and also their business partners were highlighted during these interviews. Some of them also expressed concerns about their family members who have left the country for greener pastures through illegal methods including through the sea.
Thirty-nine-year-old professional driver, Amal Janaka Saparamadu, who became a father six months ago, five years after his marriage, is one such person who is to leave the country. While earning more for his family is a priority, according to him, he is leaving his wife and newborn child not because he is willing to, but because he sees no other option.
“I wanted to have a better job, preferably in a foreign country where the pay is better than in Sri Lanka. However, I received a foreign job at a time where I need to be in the country and with my family. It is also a time where there is a severe uncertainty about our futures in the country, which leaves me with just one, very difficult option. I will be earning for my child during the next few years. However, I will lose the opportunity to see my child growing up despite the fact that I was waiting to be a father for around five years, and to share those moments with my wife. This is what the economic crisis has done to the people. We have no time to be with our families.” Saparamadu opined that it is unfortunate that families have had to depend more on the amount of money their income earners make than on the love, care and bond that they share.
Deteriorating mental health
Household-level economic issues and the consequent stress have cost families their peace of mind and familial bonds in other, worse ways. Even though it has been discussed in various contexts, the economic crisis’ impacts on people’s mental health appears to be a bigger issue than has been discussed, as it was a concern shared by every person that spoke with The Daily Morning.
According to 21-year-old private sector management trainee Indika Karunasena (name changed on request), he is living with such challenges, as the impacts of the economic crisis on his family’s income are almost unmanageable. “My father, who is a small-time broker, used to be the sole earner of my family, until I started working in January. With the economic issues in the country, many of my father’s clients halted their businesses or adopted cheaper ways of doing business, which resulted in my father’s income plummeting. He had to change the way he lived completely, and consuming alcohol, which used to be an occasional habit of his, has turned into a regular habit. He uses most of his income to purchase alcohol, and this has directly affected the relationship he had with me and my mother. In fact, it has reached an almost unmanageable level, where he argues and sometimes fights with my mother over his income, my mother’s financial management, and the fact that he has lost his freedom and comforts.”
According to Karunasena, the said situation was the primary reason that compelled him to start working. He believes that him becoming an earner would ease the burden of the economic impact on his family, and especially on his father, which he thinks will help ease the stress that his father is going through. Most importantly, he believes that more income to the family would restore the peace that the family had before economic hardships affected his father’s profession.
“I just turned 21 years old, and I was not ready to work. However, my family’s situation resulted in me feeling depressed all day, and the knowledge that I could start working and supporting my family, especially my father, despite my plans to study more, made me feel guilty. Although I first tried to find a way to stay out of my home to avoid my parents’ quarrels, later, I came to terms with the fact that finding a job is the best option. I am not doing a job that I like and I would have been able to find a better job had I been able to study more as I had planned,” he added, expressing doubts about his future plans with regard to studies.
Moreover, all others that were interviewed noted having felt either suicidal, depressed, anxious and/or hopeless about their futures. They all cited issues stemming from the economic crisis as the main and sometimes the sole reason for such mental health related challenges. Only a handful of them said that they have sought either professional assistance or friends’ or families’ assistance in this regard. Majority of them said that suppressing the stress that they are going through has become a normal part of their lives, since, according to them, they do not have an opportunity to prioritise their mental health when there is a plethora of responsibilities to be fulfilled for their families’ wellbeing. Alarmingly, some of them claimed that the nature of their professions and/or the socio-economic environments in which they live in have discouraged them from taking care of their mental health.
The interviewees are between the ages of 21 and 55 years, and are of different professional backgrounds such as self employment, the public sector, the private sector, and daily wage based work.
Note: This article discusses matters pertaining to mental health and suicide. If you feel that you or someone you know may be dealing with mental health issues and/or suicidal thoughts, the following institutions are ready to assist you to deal with it.
Sri Lanka Sumithrayo: 0112-682535
The National Institute of Mental Health: 1926
Shanthi Maargam: 0717639898
Courage Compassion Commitment (CCC) Foundation: 1333