FACTORS AFFECTING THE EMPLOYMENT OF WOMEN: WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO AMPARA DISTRICT

Abstract

People who are employed and actively looking for work but are unable to find it are defined as unemployment. Since the 1960s, a common issue in Sri Lanka has been the lower employment of women in the labour force according to the Central Bank Report. The employment rate of women was 52.6% in the world, 25.2% in South Asia, and 32.8% in Sri Lanka. In 2021, the highest unemployment rate in Sri Lanka was reported in Trincomalee district (17.7%). Most of the surveys have investigated women’s unemployment in Sri Lanka. The main objective of this research is to identify the factors affecting the employment of women in Ampara district. Multi-stage cluster sampling method was used to select a sample of 288 women from the Ampara district, which had the second-lowest employment rate in 2021. Primary data for the study were gathered through online structured questionnaires and face-to-face interviews. To achieve the main objective, binary logistic regression was employed with 25 independent variables using a quantitative approach. It was revealed that age positively affects the employment of women, while the number of income earners and family income negatively affect the employment of women. Finally, it was suggested that above mentioned significant variables can strongly impact the employment of women, so it’s recommended that create new employment opportunities for women and provide training for unskilled workers. The findings of this research are very useful for policymakers to determine possible actions to increase employment.