World Bank2014-04-222014-04-222012-10https://hdl.handle.net/10986/17989Sri Lanka's demographic transition has significantly shaped the age distribution of the labor force and created a large working age population (World Bank 2008). Changing cohort sizes of young and old workers not only affect their own labor market outcomes (job quality, earnings), but also potentially affect growth prospects in the economy. Recovering from a 30-year conflict in the North and the East, Sri Lanka aims to accelerate growth in the medium term by substantially increasing investments. What will be the role of the labor market in delivering this growth? The service sector is expanding and accounts for nearly 60 percent of the Growth Domestic Product (GDP) and almost 40 percent of employment. However, only 56 percent of the working age population is employed, a result of low participation and high unemployment rates among women and youth. Any growth strategy will have to bring in more working age people, particularly women, into economic activity. The paper is organized as follows. The two sections that follow present an overview of the supply and demand side of the labor market. The next section discusses the ways in which the demographic transition could shape the labor market, particularly in terms of unemployment and earnings. This discussion is followed by three sections examining labor force participation and unemployment, job type, and earnings respectively. The last section concludes with some policy recommendations.en-USCC BY 3.0 IGOADOLESCENT GIRLSAGE DISTRIBUTIONAGE GROUPAGE GROUPSAGGREGATE DEMANDARMED FORCESBABIESBABYBABY BOOMBARGAINING INSTITUTIONSBASIC WORKER RIGHTSBRAIN DRAINCAPITAL INVESTMENTCHILD CARECHILD SURVIVALCHILDBEARINGCLERKSCOLLECTIVE BARGAININGCROSS-SECTIONAL DATADEMOGRAPHIC CHANGESDEMOGRAPHIC PRESSURESDEMOGRAPHIC PROJECTIONSDEMOGRAPHIC TRANSITIONDEMOGRAPHIC TRENDSDEVELOPING COUNTRIESDEVELOPMENT ECONOMICSDISCRIMINATION AGAINST WOMENDOWNWARD PRESSUREEARNINGS REGRESSIONEARNINGS REGRESSIONSECONOMIC CONSEQUENCES OF POPULATIONECONOMIC GROWTHECONOMIC THEORYEDUCATED MOTHERSELDERLYEMPLOYEEEMPLOYMENT GROWTHEMPLOYMENT INCREASEEMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIESEMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES FOR WOMENEMPLOYMENT POLICYEMPLOYMENT SERVICESEMPLOYMENT SHAREEQUILIBRIUM WAGESETHNIC GROUPFAMILY SIZEFAMILY SUPPORTFAMILY WORKFEMALE EDUCATIONFEMALE EMPLOYMENTFEMALE LABORFEMALE LABOR FORCEFEMALE LABOR FORCE PARTICIPATIONFEMALE WORKFERTILITYFERTILITY DECLINEFERTILITY RATESFEWER CHILDRENFIRM SIZEFIRST UNEMPLOYMENT SPELLGENDERGENDER COMPOSITIONGENDER EQUALITYGENDER GAPGENDER PARITYGENDER WAGE GAPSGOVERNMENT AGENCIESHEALTH SERVICESHIGH UNEMPLOYMENTHIGH UNEMPLOYMENT RATEHIGH UNEMPLOYMENT RATESHIVHOUSEHOLD CHARACTERISTICSHOUSEHOLD RESPONSIBILITIESHOUSEHOLD SURVEYHUMAN CAPITALHUMAN DEVELOPMENTHUMAN RESOURCESIMPACT OF EDUCATIONIMPACT OF POPULATIONINCOMEINFORMAL EMPLOYMENTINFORMAL SECTORINFORMAL SECTOR EMPLOYMENTINFORMAL SECTOR WORKERSJOB CREATIONJOB LOSSJOB SEARCHJOB SEARCH ASSISTANCEJOB SECURITYJOB SEEKERSJOB STATUSJOB VACANCIESJOBSLABOR COSTSLABOR DEMANDLABOR ECONOMICSLABOR FORCELABOR FORCE PARTICIPATIONLABOR MARKETLABOR MARKET CONDITIONSLABOR MARKET DISCRIMINATIONLABOR MARKET EXPERIENCELABOR MARKET FLEXIBILITYLABOR MARKET OUTCOMELABOR MARKET OUTCOMESLABOR MARKET REGULATIONSLABOR MARKETSLABOR REGULATIONSLABOR SUPPLYLABORERSLABOURLABOUR FORCELABOUR FORCE PARTICIPATIONLABOUR MARKETSLABOUR ORGANIZATIONLAMLEGAL STATUSLEGISLATORSLEVELS OF EDUCATIONLOCAL LABOR MARKETLOW FERTILITYMARITAL STATUSMARRIED WOMENMIGRANTSMINIMUM WAGESMORTALITYNUMBER OF PEOPLENUMBER OF WORKERSNURSESOCCUPATIONSOLDER ADULTSOLDER WORKERSOPPORTUNITIES FOR WOMENPAID WORKERSPARTICIPATION BY WOMENPERMANENT EMPLOYMENTPERSONNELPOLICY IMPLICATIONSPOLITICAL ECONOMYPOPULATION CENSUSESPOPULATION CHANGEPOPULATION GROWTHPRELIMINARY RESULTSPREVIOUS STUDIESPRIVATE COMPANIESPRIVATE SECTORPRIVATE SECTOR JOBSPRIVATE SECTOR WORKERSPROBIT REGRESSIONPROGRESSPROMOTING GENDER EQUITYPUBLIC EMPLOYMENTPUBLIC POLICYPUBLIC SECTOR EMPLOYEEPUBLIC SECTOR EMPLOYEESPUBLIC SECTOR EMPLOYMENTPUBLIC SECTOR JOBPUBLIC SECTOR JOBSREGULAR WORKERSREMITTANCESRESPECTRETAIL TRADERETIREMENTSALARIED WORKERSSECONDARY LEVELS OF EDUCATIONSECRETARIESSECURITY SITUATIONSERVICE SECTORSERVICE SECTORSSEXSKILLED WORKERSTEMPORARY WORKTEMPORARY WORKERSTERTIARY EDUCATIONTERTIARY LEVELTOTAL EMPLOYMENTTOTAL LABOR FORCEUNEMPLOYEDUNEMPLOYMENTUNEMPLOYMENT AMONG WOMENUNEMPLOYMENT DURATIONUNEMPLOYMENT PROBLEMUNEMPLOYMENT RATEUNEMPLOYMENT RATESUNEMPLOYMENT SPELLSUNIVERSITY EDUCATIONUNPAID FAMILY WORKERSUNPAID WORKERSUSAIDVOCATIONAL TRAININGWAGE DATAWAGE DIFFERENTIALWAGE GAPWAGE PREMIUMWAGE PREMIUMSWAGE SUBSIDIESWARWATER SUPPLYWDRWOMANWORK FORCEWORKERWORKERSWORKINGYOUNG CHILDRENYOUNG MENYOUNG PEOPLEYOUNG WOMENYOUNG WORKERSYOUTH EMPLOYMENTYOUTH LABORYOUTH UNEMPLOYMENTYOUTH UNEMPLOYMENT RATEYOUTH UNEMPLOYMENT RATES10.1596/17989