Gender Analysis of Labor in Sri Lanka’s Estate Sector

Aphichoke Kotikula, World Bank Group
Jennifer L Solotaroff, World Bank Group

A product of British colonialism, estate sector of Sri Lanka comprises plantations in the remote areas, populated with descendents of indentured labor from India. This paper examines whether the estate sector shows the same patterns in gender-based disparities that are found in other sectors of Sri Lanka’s economy. Multivariate analysis of gender-disaggregated data suggests that—as in Sri Lanka’s labor market generally—women are underrepresented in higher-status, higher-paying positions. In contrast to aggregate patterns of labor market dynamics, however, in the estate sector women do not face higher unemployment rates, nor are they paid lower wages than men when comparably employed. This paper also describes the data, methods, and results of the analysis after first reviewing relevant literature on gender disparities in employment in Sri Lanka, as well as discussing the context of work and gender in the country’s estate sector.