Sri Lanka’s unemployment rate is low (4.4 percent in 2016), yet its youth (15-24 yrs) unemployment rate is 22 percent. Unemployment among the more educated (above GCE AL) is 8.3 percent, almost double the overall rate. The participation of women in the labor force is 34.3 percent, among the lowest in the world. Many of these national problems take an aggravated form in the post-conflict Northern Province.
On May 4th, 2017, the Jaffna Science Association is holding a theme seminar on youth employment as part of its annual sessions. I have been invited as a keynote speaker. I intend to lay bare the problem using data from the 2016 Sri Lanka Labor Force Survey Annual Bulletin, and then describe solutions, including LIRNEasia’s agriculture and online freelancing work.
The slideset is here.
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