Married women's labor supply and economic development: Evidence from Sri Lankan household data

Abstract

Women's labor supply in Sri Lanka has increased steadily since the early 1990s following economic reforms, but remains well below the level predicted by national income, a feature shared by a number of Asian and Latin American countries that have undergone similar reforms and economic growth. To understand the microeconomic determinants of women's work in Sri Lanka's growing economy, this paper estimates a binary‐choice model of married women's labor supply using household survey data spanning a 23‐year period. Decomposition and cohort analysis reveal that women have been drawn into the workforce through falling fertility rates, rising tertiary education, and declining income effects among younger generations, but other factors have undermined this positive trend. Educational attainment reduces married women's labor supply except at the tertiary level, consistent with social stigmas associated with married women in non‐white‐collar employment. The strict sectoral segregation of married women by education level supports this hypothesis. In addition, growth has been concentrated in low‐skilled sectors with self‐employment more prevalent, reducing employment prospects of educated women and prompting their labor force withdrawal. This suggests it is the structure of economic development, rather than speed, that matters for women's labor force activity.

Labour Markets in Low-Income Countries

“…In India a rising level of male education has an obvious strong and lasting negative effect on women's participation rates, and seems to be the core factor behind the overall low rates among females (see Klasen and Pieters 2015;. In contrast, findings from Vietnam show that this negative effect may decline and almost vanish as an economy grows, while it has apparently had no effect in Sri Lanka (see Klasen 2019;Seneviratne 2019).…”

Education Access and "Learning Poverty" in Seven Southern African Countries

“…Despite women workers having high education levels, combined with over forty years of open economic policy, the lives of everyday women have yet to improve in any tangible way (Gunawardana 2016). This is especially the case for women in the North and East of the country who have been affected by decades of ethnic conflict, mirroring inconsistencies of the participation rates of women within other emerging economies (Seneviratne 2019). In order for SDG 1, within its relative income and regional inequalities, to be eradicated, Sri Lankan labour reforms must consider the gendered and post-war context under which they are actioned.…”

Understanding Female Labour Force Participation and Domestic Work in India: The Role of Co-residence and Household Composition

“…Female participation in the labour market is shaped by the micro-level realities such as household composition, family status, the male’s earnings, labour demand condition at the local level, regional mobility, marriage and family care, childbearing and rearing, social and cultural norm, unemployment, safety at workplace and gender equality in wages (Afridi et al, 2018; Klasen & Pieters, 2015; Siddiqui et al, 2017;Sorsa et al, 2015). The structural issues in the labour market like lack of skills, gender discrimination, high wage gap, social stigma, cultural norms, occupational stereotypes, mechanisation of agriculture and occupational segregation induce women to withdraw from the labour market (Seneviratne, 2019). The review of literature acknowledges that social, cultural and traditional norms such as family, social group and religion restrict women’s decisions and behaviour inside and outside the household.…”