Social protection in Sri Lanka: current status and effect on labor market outcomes
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Date
2015
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Publisher
Institute for Human Development
Abstract
There are many social protection programs in Sri Lanka targeting vulnerable groups such as the poor, elderly, disabled, children and women. These programs vary from cash and in-kind transfers to pensions, insurance and livelihood development programs. Despite the multitude of programs, the current social protection system has many weaknesses. This study provides a detailed analysis of Sri Lanka’s social protection system and further examines the relationship between social protection and labour market outcomes such as the labor force participation and employment status. The study uses both quantitative and qualitative analyses. The quantitative analysis reveals that social protection income as a share of household expenditure has a marginal negative effect on the probability of an individual’s labour force participation. This relationship holds for the prime age (25-59 years) and the elderly categories of both genders while no significant effect is observed on the youth. With regard to the effect on employment status, the study reveal a positive effect on employment categories like own account workers, but the marginal effects are very small, hence no conclusive interpretations could be made. The study stresses the
need for improving the current social protection system, particularly its efficiency and resource allocation within the system.
Description
Keywords
Social protection, Sri Lanka, labour market