Costs of Doing a Job for Urban Women in Sri Lanka

This study aims to calculate the costs (monetary and non-monetary) involved with doing a job for urban women in Sri Lanka. It is underpinned by the knowledge gap on how “cost” factors as a barrier in to or incentive out of the labour force. 661 working age women in the Western province that were categorized as either (i) Currently employed (ii) Previously employed or (iii) Never employed, were sampled through focus group discussions (46) and a detailed survey questionnaire (615). The perceived overall cost of working for an urban woman in Sri Lanka is estimated to be 22,672 LKR per month, whereas their expected median earnings are 25,500 LKR – the perceived overall cost of working is 88.9 percent of expected earnings. The discrepancy is particularly pronounced for currently employed women; while their cost of doing a job is 41,157 LKR per month, their median earnings are only 25,500 LKR. The cost of doing a job is 1.6 times the compensation they receive. This suggests that cost, particularly implicit non-monetary costs are an important factor in women’s labour market decisions. Additionally, this study finds that the affordability and reliability of childcare as well as patriarchal cultural norms and expectations play a pivotal in shaping the “cost” women bear to engage in paid work.