Verité Research, WCIC to hold event to publish findings on costs of working for SL women

Tuesday, 29 March 2022 00:58 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Verité Research, in collaboration with the Women’s Chamber of Industry and Commerce (WCIC), is hosting a virtual event in April to publish the key research findings and recommendations for the private sector on an upcoming publication on the ‘Costs of Doing a Job for Urban Women in Sri Lanka’. This research is supported by the Australian High Commission to Sri Lanka and Maldives through a Direct Aid Program Grant.

The research was based on the quantitative and qualitative findings of a survey comprising of 600 working-age women in the Western Province and six focus group discussions with working-age women in Colombo and Gampaha. The study estimates the monetary and non-monetary costs for a woman to work in Sri Lanka to better understand if it is cost-prohibitive for women to work and the factors that affect the choice architecture of women to enter or exit the workforce.

The private sector recommendations formulated based on this information will provide insight on solutions and policies that assist to attract and retain women to participate in the workforce. Given the strikingly low level of female labour force participation (FLFP) reported in 2021 at 31%, compared to men at 71%1. This event aims to facilitate a timely discussion, grounded on the research, on how the private sector can support the entry and retention of women in the labour force, Further, this event will contribute to existing conversations to enhance female labour force participation (FLFP) and empowerment in Sri Lanka.

Footnote:

1The Department of Census and Statistics Sri Lanka, Quarterly Report: Sri Lanka Labour Force Survey 2021 Q2 (30 Dec 2021), at http://www.statistics.gov.lk/ LabourForce/ StaticalInformation/ QuarterlyReports/ 2ndQuarter2021.