Sri Lanka lags far behind in women’s participation in the workforce, especially compared to other middle-income countries and a recent survey by the World Bank has shown that challenges faced by women at work places and parenting and caregiving responsibilities are the main reasons for declining female labor force participation.
In March this year, as part of the International Women’s Day #PressForProgress campaign, the World Bank office in Sri Lanka invited expression of views of Sri Lankans on priorities and opportunities to improve Female Labor Force Participation (FLFP) in Sri Lanka.
Among other things, the informal survey was designed to help identify what Sri Lankans think are the main challenges keeping women out of the workplace; including their views on tangible steps to be taken to support women to gain paid employment.
When asked what are the top 3 challenges women faced in getting to work, 46% of the 239 respondents identified parenting and caregiving responsibilities, followed by social/cultural norms (21%), and sexual harassment in the workplace (15%).
For those who persevere and continue to work, many face serious challenges, the World Bank says. Respondents identified issues with juggling responsibilities at home and work (89%), difficulty with working long hours or staying overtime (73%) and difficulty finding childcare (79%) as being among the biggest challenges.
When asked how men and women could balance marriage and professional life, an overwhelming majority has said men and women should equally share family responsibilities so that both spouses can contribute to the family income.
More than 85% of the respondents, believe that sharing the family responsibilities at home was essential if women are to get back to work.
However, the core to this balanced sharing is the need to change attitudes at the family level and practical measures must support this attitude shift. The World Bank report emphasizes that there is a need to promote “the concept of fatherhood and sharing gender roles at home.”
The respondents have suggested measures such as flexible hours to help parents who need to balance both work and child care, policies that support working remotely and the provision of reliable child care facilities at the work place.
Idah Pswarayi-Riddihough, Country Director for Sri Lanka and the Maldives, points out that Sri Lanka’s prosperity depends on its women joining the workforce, particularly as the country is aging fast.
“Sri Lanka is getting older before getting rich. Without an adequate labor force, the country cannot be competitive, hence its ability to deliver basic services and generate revenue to support this service delivery would be hampered,” she says.
The World Bank in Sri Lanka says it is determined to help drive change to see more women participate and remain in Sri Lanka’s workforce.
“Together with our partners in public and private sectors as well as civil society groups, we are committed to join efforts to advocate for change,” World Bank in Sri Lanka says.
