World Bank2014-04-162014-04-162013-01https://hdl.handle.net/10986/17871Even though Sri Lanka is a fore-runner in many human development dimensions and aspects of gender equality amongst the South Asian countries, it is similar to other South Asian countries when it comes to women's participation in economic activities. Female labor force participation has not changed much in recent decades and remained stagnant at a rate around 30 to 35 percent of working age women. This rate is much lower than one would expect given the educational attainment of the female population in Sri Lanka. In order to encourage increased women s participation in economic activities, the first condition is to understand what is keeping them out of the scene. This paper analyzes the underlying reasons behind low participation rates of women in economic activities. It also investigates the employment outcomes, occupational choice, rates of returns, and skills set of economically active women in comparison with men to identify and understand the gaps. The findings have been used to suggest potential policies and programs that can help remove some of those barriers and encourage and enable women to become more economically active in the labor market.en-USCC BY 3.0 IGOACCESS TO INFORMATIONACCESS TO RESOURCESACCESS TO SERVICESACCOUNTINGADEQUATE EDUCATIONAGE COHORTAGE GROUPAGED WOMENAGGREGATE GROWTHBOTH SEXESCARE CENTERSCAREGIVERSCENSUS OF POPULATIONCHILD CARECHILD-CARECITIZENSCIVIL WARCLERKSCOGNITIVE SKILLSCONTINUING EDUCATIONDAY LABORERSDECISION MAKINGDECLINE IN FERTILITYDEMOGRAPHIC TRANSITIONDEPENDENCY RATIODEVELOPING COUNTRIESDISCRIMINATIONDISCRIMINATION AGAINST WOMENDISCRIMINATORY PRACTICESDOMESTIC WORKERSEARNINGS REGRESSIONECONOMIC GROWTHECONOMIC OPPORTUNITIESEDUCATION OF WOMENEDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENTELDERLYEMPLOYEEEMPLOYMENTEMPLOYMENT GROWTHEMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIESEMPLOYMENT OUTCOMESEMPLOYMENT RATEEMPLOYMENT RATE OF WOMENEQUAL OPPORTUNITIESEQUALLY QUALIFIED WOMENFEMALE EDUCATIONFEMALE EMPLOYMENTFEMALE LABORFEMALE LABOR FORCEFEMALE LABOR FORCE PARTICIPATIONFEMALE MIGRANT WORKERSFEMALE MIGRANTSFEMALE POPULATIONFEMALE WORKERSFERTILITY RATESFINDING EMPLOYMENTFOREIGN REMITTANCESGENDERGENDER ANALYSISGENDER DIFFERENCESGENDER DISCRIMINATIONGENDER EQUALITYGENDER GAPGENDER GAPSGENDER PARITYGENDER SEGREGATIONGENERAL EDUCATIONGOVERNMENT POLICIESHIGHLY EDUCATED WOMENHOUSEHOLD CONSUMPTIONHOUSEHOLD INCOMEHOUSEHOLD SIZEHOUSEHOLD SURVEYHOUSEHOLD SURVEYSHOUSEHOLD WORKHUMAN CAPITALHUMAN DEVELOPMENTHUMAN RESOURCESINCOME EARNINGINFORMAL SECTORINHERITANCEINTERNATIONAL MIGRANTINTERNATIONAL MIGRATIONINTERPERSONAL SKILLSINTERVENTIONSJOB MARKETJOB OPPORTUNITIESJOB SEARCHJOB STATUSJOB VACANCIESJOBSKINDERGARTENLABOR ECONOMICSLABOR FORCELABOR FORCE PARTICIPATIONLABOR MARKETLABOR MARKET OUTCOMESLABOR MARKETSLABOR MIGRANTSLABOR MIGRATIONLABOR PRODUCTIVITYLABOR PRODUCTIVITY GROWTHLABOR SUPPLYLABOURLABOUR FORCELABOUR SUPPLYLEGAL STATUSLEVEL OF DEVELOPMENTLEVEL OF EDUCATIONLEVELS OF EDUCATIONLOW FERTILITYMALE COUNTERPARTMALE WORKERSMARITAL STATUSMARRIED WOMENMIGRANTMIGRANT LABORMIGRANT MENMIGRANT WORKERSNATIONAL POPULATIONNUMBER OF CHILDRENNUMBER OF WORKERSNUMERACYOCCUPATIONOCCUPATIONSOFFICIAL LANGUAGESOLD MENPAID WORKERSPARTICIPATION OF WOMENPARTICIPATION RATESPERSONALITYPOLICY IMPLICATIONSPOLICY MAKERSPOLICY RESEARCHPOLICY RESEARCH WORKING PAPERPOPULATION CHANGEPRESCHOOL CHILDRENPREVIOUS DISCUSSIONPREVIOUS SECTIONPRIMARY EDUCATIONPRIVATE EMPLOYMENTPRIVATE SECTORPRIVATE SECTORSPRIVATE TRAININGPRIVATE TRAINING INSTITUTIONSPROBIT REGRESSIONPUBLIC INSTITUTIONSPUBLIC LIFEPUBLIC SECTOR JOBSREADINGREASONINGRELIGIOUS GROUPSREMITTANCEREMITTANCESRESPECTRETIREMENTRETURNS TO EDUCATIONRURAL AREASRURAL LOCATIONSRURAL WOMENSAFETYSANITATIONSCHOOL ATTENDANCESCHOOL CHILDRENSECONDARY EDUCATIONSECONDARY SCHOOLSECONDARY SCHOOLINGSECURITY SITUATIONSELF EMPLOYEDSERVICE SECTORSEXSINGLE MOTHERSSKILL DEVELOPMENTSKILLED OCCUPATIONSSKILLED WORKERSSKILLS DEVELOPMENTSKILLS TRAININGSMALL LOANSSOCIAL IMPACTSOCIAL NORMSSTATUS OF WOMENSTDSUSTAINABLE GROWTHTECHNICAL SKILLSTERTIARY EDUCATIONTOTAL FACTOR PRODUCTIVITYTRAINING CENTERSTRAINING COURSESTRAINING PROGRAMTRAINING PROGRAMSTRANSPORTATIONUNEMPLOYEDUNEMPLOYED LABORUNEMPLOYMENTUNEMPLOYMENT RATEUNEMPLOYMENT RATESURBAN AREASURBAN WOMENVOCATIONAL EDUCATIONVOCATIONAL TRAININGWAGE DATAWAGE PREMIUMWAGE PREMIUMSWAGE SUBSIDYWAGE SUBSIDY PROGRAMSWAGESWATER SUPPLYWOMANWOMEN IN LABORWOMEN WITH CHILDRENWORK EXPERIENCEWORK FORCEWORKERWORKERSWORKFORCEWORKING WOMENYOUNG CHILDRENYOUNG COUPLEYOUTHYOUTH EMPLOYMENT10.1596/17871