Gender

Women’s participation in Sri Lanka’s labour force stands at a very low value of thirty percent

…there are a few factors that are not considered when measuring the contribution to the labour force…[a] large chunk of unremunerated work done by women is the main type of work that is not included in these statistics. According to statistics presented through research, 60% of care-giving work…which is unremunerated, is done by women. It is while doing these tasks and in addition to it that they also engage in economic activities…research has shown that…women work at least 14 hours a day. Men work only 9 hours. It is within this reality that we are proposing that women should work more; that they are not working enough and should work more.

…according to the 2009 [sic, 2019] Annual Report from the Central Bank, the female labour force participation rate of Sri Lanka was 34.5%. It was 73% for men... We have one of the lowest female labour force participation rates in the world.

…[we] have not been able to increase representation [of women] in parliament. Even today, representation of women in our parliament is at a level of 5.8%.

Today, the percentage of women studying in universities exceeds 50 percent.

"Sri Lanka’s Labour Force Participation (LFP) was 36% for women versus 75% for men in 2016, which is the 14th largest gender gap in LFP globally.