Abstract

The aging population, due to the increasing life expectancy and decreasing fertility rates as a result of the demographic transition in Sri Lanka, has created a number of challenges within the labour market. Elders re-entering the labour market is a common phenomenon in countries with rapid population ageing due to the lack of funding for the welfare of the elderly population. The main objective of this research is to compare the gender-based factors affecting Sri Lanka’s elderly labour supply. Secondary data of the Sri Lanka Labour Force Survey (2018) was used for this study, while three Logit Regression models were used for the analysis on labour supply decision making, using 5,897 males, 7,325 females and 13,222 of total elders above the age of 60 years as samples. According to this research, being in the provinces other than the Western Province and the non-urban sector caused a positive impact on elderly men’s employment. Similarly, it also revealed that age, marital status, being uneducated or only possessing primary education caused a positive impact on elderly women’s employment. Having children, household size has been non-Sinhala have negative impact on elderly labour supply. Finally, policy recommendations have been made to address the issues of the elderly labour supply in the two aspects of social welfare and institutional reforms of the labour market.

Keywords: Adult labour supply, elderly men and women, employment