To recognise unpaid care labour

• The challenge ahead for women lies in the fact that there need to be employment opportunities for them to ‘fit in’

In Sri Lanka, a common notion is that women should be primary care providers whereas males should be primary breadwinners. But these gendered norms have differed over the course of history due to various circumstances. Today, women have to juggle between multiple roles thereby distancing them from hopes to seek employment opportunities. It is in this backdrop that Prime Minister Harini Amarasuriya made a recent statement at the 2026 World Economic Forum on recognising unpaid care work where more than 70% of women are engaged in. 

According to UN Women, women and girls do 16 billion hours of unpaid care every day – powering families, communities, and economies. Yet, this work remains largely invisible, undervalued and unequally distributed. By definition, unpaid care work is the daily labour that keeps households, families, and communities running – work that is mostly done by women and girls without pay. It includes raising children, caring for older or sick relatives, and supporting a person with disabilities, as well as cleaning, cooking, washing and collecting water or fuel. It also includes organising schedules and anticipating household or community needs – often called the ‘mental load’, unpaid care work is the invisible force that holds households and communities together.

PM Amarasuriya noted that  unpaid care labour is a vital yet overlooked component of the economy. Sri Lanka’s Time Use Survey (2017) carried out by the Department of Census and Statistics is acknowledged as the first study which confirms the number of extended hours women are engaged in unpaid care work compared to men. According to this survey,  87.3% of women and girls above the age of 10 participated in housework and care work compared to only 59.7% of men and boys. A 2022 study done by UN Women on ‘Gender Disparities and Labour Market Challenges’ found that Sri Lankan employers were less likely to hire women, if employers faced constraints in offering flexible working hours or in financing maternity benefits. The commonly held perception of care work being ‘women’s work’ therefore puts women at a disadvantage in the labour market.

This report highlighted the need to formulate policies that support the creation of employment opportunities for women. The study revealed how employers looked for low-skilled women workers partly because women are paid less than men. Firms with greater shares of unskilled workers and clerical workers prefer to employ women rather than men, at least partly due to women’s wages being lower than men’s wages. The relatively high demand for low-skilled women workers may also be influenced by the occupational structures of subsectors in manufacturing and services and the relative low capital, research and development, and possibly technology intensity, of their operations, the study revealed. The report also highlighted legislative constraints that did not facilitate flexible working hours and maternity benefits, resulted in employers hiring less women workers were seen as practical challenges in employing women. 

Sri Lanka is currently in a dilemma on many fronts. One would wonder whether the prevailing education system is adequate enough to prepare youth for future job prospects in an AI-dominated world. Parents contemplate on sending their children to pursue studies in somewhat old school subjects such as journalism since newspapers are now being replaced by digital media and digital platforms. The trends have shifted from purchasing a newspaper from a shop and reading news to scrolling through a Facebook newsfeed and becoming aware of the ‘most viral’ news for the day (which sometimes may not be a news but rather a gossip). 

Therefore, the challenge ahead for women lies in the fact that there need to be employment opportunities for them to ‘fit in’. A mother of three who had been out of the corporate sector for the greater part of her career may find challenges in getting used to new software or other information systems used in respective departments. They may have to be trained, and training takes time and resources. 

With increasing attacks on women in politics, online violence and other harmful trends, it is becoming increasingly important to provide safer environments for women and even men to work in. It is high time that the incumbent government, which has promoted inclusivity in its manifesto, introduce new legislation and policies to challenge existing patriarchal structures and bring about an acceptable culture of inclusivity.   

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