Improving Lankan Women’s Access to Economic Opportunities: The Business Case

Abstract

As we in Sri Lanka explore the pathways out of the current crisis, it is imperative that we acknowledge the mammoth contributions that women make to the economy, hidden and unpaid, and seriously consider how to improve their access to paid, formal economic opportunities. If the evidence is anything to go by, very few countries (if any) have achieved successful economic development without creating and leveraging fair economic opportunities for women. In East and South-East Asia, women have powered their export-led manufacturing growth; over the past three decades, Vietnam’s female labour force participation rate has consistently remained over 70%, Thailand’s over 60%, and South Korea and Indonesia’s over 50%. It isn’t just a happy coincidence that across all of Asia’s rapidly developing economies, women have access to and take up formal employment. It is generally (and fairly) assumed that equitable access to education results in equitable economic participation as well. This has unfortunately and clearly not been the case for Sri Lanka; significant investments in women’s education have not translated to economic benefits for women, nor the country. This article looks at why this is and progress made towards it.