In Sri Lanka, approximately a half of urban population has concentrated in the Western Province. This study aims to identify the issues and prospects in urban human resources development in Sri Lanka. This knowledge is essential to formulate policies for sustainable urban management in Sri Lanka, and garner a broader understanding of nature of urban human resources, issues in the utilization of human resources, and the wellbeing of urban population. The study uses both primary data and secondary data to examine characteristics of urban population and issues faced by urban dwellers with regard to human resources development. The primary study covers selected urban locations in all three districts namely, Colombo, Gampaha and Kalutara in the Western province Sri Lanka including 1600 sample population. The project also explores the qualitative aspects of urban dwellers’ wellbeing. This study develops the conceptual approach in recognizing the central role of population dynamics, and socioeconomic, political and environmental factors in addressing wellbeing issues of urban population. This aims at empowering people by fostering the contributory capacities and skills, and talents that they can bring to the improvement of their own quality of life and that of their families, communities, and societies.
South Asia Urban Forum 2015 | pg. 30
Introduction
Like in many other developing countries, Sri Lanka too urban work force contributes largely to the labour force of the country. Colombo is the highly urbanized district in the country whereas 78 percent of its population is currently living in urban areas. The informal sector absorbs approximately 45 percent of employment of the labour force, mainly to the non-agricultural employment (Department of Census and Statistics, 2012). Which is relatively high compared to other districts and it has also important impact on determining the low level of unemployment (3%) in the district. It is evident that all macroeconomic policies have direct and indirect effects on the growth of both urban informal and formal employment since 1970s. The number of people employed or unemployed or searching for work in an area depends primarily on the demographic compositions of its population. Also, demographic components such as births, deaths (natural increase) and migration determine the size and the age - sex structure of labour force. Previous studies have largely focused on economic aspects of urban informal sector and inadequately discussed the importance of demographic compositions and issues of current manpower. Therefore, this paper attempts to identify the demographic compositions and employment related issue in urban settlement context.
Problem Statement
The key issues facing the urban communities in many developing countries are found to be urban unemployment, underemployment, poverty and unequal distribution of resources (Todaro, 1976; ILO, 2012). Today, 18.3 percent of Sri Lankan population lives in urban areas and nearly half of the urban population (48%) lives in the Colombo district (Department of Census &
o
Statistics, 2012). Colombo being the largest city of the country, half of its population concentrated in 1,505 settlements which were identified as underserved settlements, illegally build, of which 86% of land owned by the state. About 300,000peopleare living in 65,000 housing units which are slums and squatter settlements where health and sanitation facilities remain at low levels (USDA, 2011). Many people migrate from rural to urban areas in search of employment tend to find job in informal sector and find shelter in slums and squatter settlements. These informal jobs lack basic social or legal protections or employment benefits and may be found in the formal sector, informal sector or households. Hence, identifying demographic compositions and employment related issues in the context of urban settlement work force are important for addressing policy implications.
Objectives
The objectives in this paper are twofold: first to examine the literature on demographic compositions of work force in urban settlement area: Second, to identify issues of urban employment and its demographic and socioeconomic determinants.
Empirical Evidence'
There are two sets of literature exist on demographic compositions and urban work force. First, related to the effect of demographic factors or compositions on employment participation (Dariotis et al, 2011; Gunathilake, 2008; Riordan & Shore, 1997; Thongchumnum, 2008) and the second, demographic and economic motives of migration to urban areas and expansion of urban informal sector (Todaro, 1976) Several studies reveal that population compositions such as age, sex, ethnicity, and education influence on the employment participation of a population in the informal sector (Dariotis et_al, 2011; Gunathilake, 2008; Arunathilaka & Jayawardene, 2010). In Sri Lanka,it is found that the informal sector contributes to more than two thirds of total employment which consisted of own-account workers, unpaid family workers, and daily paid, private sector employees (Arunatilake and Jayawardena, 2005; Gunatilaka, 2008). The studies have emphasized the age- sex composition and migratory behavior of the workers those absorb to urban informal sector and frequently argued that a large number of short duration migrants find employment in the informal sector and most occupations available for males (Banerjee, 1983; McGee, 1982; Kundu, 1999)Also, the workforce in the informal sector is very young and majority of them are in in the age group of 15 to 35 and the level of literacy and education are very low (Dariotis et_al, 2011; Kandu, 1999). There are gaps in knowledge with regard to manpower issues, which are closely related to demographic compositions in urban settlement areas.
Methodology
The study is based on quantitative data which was gathered from a random sample of two selected urban settlement communities in Nawagampura Colombo district in 2013. The sample size for the present study is 487 individuals who were either employed or searching for employment during the reference period and between ages 15-59. Data were collected by using interviewer administered questionnaire. Individual questionnaire included demographic and, socioeconomic characteristics such as gender, ethnicity, age, marital status, and level of education, and current employment status and so on. Bi-variate and logistic regression analyses were done to identify demographic determinants of employment participation and employment related issues. In the logistic regression model, the dependent variable has two outcomes, (a) employed and (b) unemployed. The independent variables are age, sex, level of education, marital status, household size and religion.
Findings, Conclusion and Policy Implications
The findings reveal that among those aged 15-59 persons 54% of males and 46% are females while mean age is 36 years. A substantial proportion of working age population (30%) is unemployed and this figure is ten times higher than district average (3%). The proportion of female unemployment is four times (81%) higher than male (19%). Majority of unemployed females are in aged 15-24. More than half of the population had level of education grade 6 to 11, and 29% had primary or below. Only 12% had passed GCE O/L and above. The ethnic composition of working age population shows that a large majority is from non-Sinhalese ethnic groups (Sinhalese -36%, Sri Lankan Tamil-48% and Moor- 16%). Marital composition shows that 75% of population had currently married while 23% are single. More than two thirds of employed persons (71%) state that their current job is not secure as they are engaged in informal employment. Logistic Regression results also revealed that controlling for other demographic factors females are 10 times more likely to get unemployed when compared to their male counterparts. In addition, age, level of education, and current marital status are significant predictors of likelihood of getting unemployed. These results suggest that future employment programmes should focus on empowering women and creating employment opportunities for females in urban settlement communities. Furthermore age-sex structure of population and education composition need to be taken into consideration when addressing employment related issues in these communities.
Keywords: Demographic Composition; Employment Participation; Urban Workforce
ReferencesB
Arunatilaka, N., &J ayawardene, P. (2010). Why people choose to participate in the Informal sector in Sri Lanka. The Indian Journal of Labour Economics, 53, 225-248.
Department of Census, and Statistics. (2012). Census of Population and Housing 2012.Colombo: Department of Census and Statistics.
Dariotis, Jacindaet_al. (2011, April). Pathways of Early Fatherhood, Marriage, and Employment: A Latent Class Growth Analysis. Demography, 48,
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Gunatilaka, R. (2008). Informal employment in Sri Lanka: Nature, probability of employment and Determinants of wages. International Labour Organization.
International Labour Organization (2012). Statistical update on employment in the informal economy. Department of Statistics, ILO.
Kundu A. (1999) Urban Informal Sector in India: Macro Trends and Policy Perspectives. Discussion Paper. International Labour Office, Geneva.
Riordan, C., & Shore, L. (1997). Demographic Diversity and Employee Attitudes: An Empirical Examination of Relational Demography Within Work Units. Applied Psychology, 82, 342-358.
Scott, M., Swortzel, K.', & Taylor, W. (2005). The Relationships between Selected Demographic •, Factors and the Level of Job Satisfaction of Extension Agents. Southern Agricultural Education Research, 55, 102- 115.
Thongchumnum, P.^j Suwanro, S., &Choonpradub, C. (2008, November). Demographic Factors Affecting Employment in Pattani and Songkla Provinces of Thailand. Asian Social Science, 4, 169-176.
Todaro M. (1976) Internal Migration in Developing Countries: A Review of Theory, Evidence, Methodology and Research Priorities. International Labour Office.
Urban Settlement Development Authority (2011). Coiporate Plan 2011- 2016,'USDA.
The main objective of this paper is to examine the issues facing women employed in the informal sector in developing countries. The employment participation of women in the informal sector has been increasing in developing countries in recent years. The contribution of this gendered informal employment to the total employment in Sri Lanka is also significantly different from the experiences of other developing countries. The evidence shows that in Sri Lanka, men dominate the proportion of the employed in the informal sector (71%), whereas women dominate the proportion in other contexts. The general notion of the positive relationship between the level of education and female labour force participation is, however, questionable in the context of Sri Lanka, where the female labour force participation rate has remained stagnant at 33 to 35 percent of working age women in recent decades. Still, currently more than half of total employed women (54%) engage in the informal sector. Therefore, it is vital to examine the issues of women who work in the informal sector.
This study is based on existing literature with respect to women’s informal sector economic activities in different contexts. Women’s issues are identified and analyzed under three main areas such as job-related issues, demographic and socioeconomic-related issues and health and morbidity-related issues.
The findings reveal that women have faced several job-related issues such as job loss, job related injury, sickness and death, and trade union-related issues. Low level of education, marital status and fertility behavior, number of school-age children, looking-after elderly parents, low income and poverty were found as other demographic and socioeconomic- related issues of these women. The findings further revealed that informal sector women have faced health and morbidity related-issues which were related to their occupations. The majority of them have engaged in occupations such as selling goods, street vending, craft working, domestic aid and unpaid family activities and they have suffered with communicable diseases. It is also found that social welfare programs for these women need to be strengthened to improve the quality of their lives.
Key words: Women employment participation, Informal sector, Employment issues
Nursing education has shifted to the conventional universities in Sri Lanka during the past two decades. Since there is a significant difference between school education and university education, new nurse undergraduate has to get acclimatized with the new university environment while coping the new psychosocial challenges. Consequently, students experience various types of stress which affect their health and academic achievements. Despite several studies have reported evidences about stress among nursing undergraduates in other countries, we could not find any evidence in Sri Lanka. A descriptive cross sectional study was performed using a self-administered questionnaire to determine perceived stress levels and associated factors among nursing undergraduates at the University of Sri Jayewardenepura. The questionnaire consisted of standard Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) and personal and academic characteristics. The SPSS statistical package (version 16) was used to analyze the data. Eighty seven undergraduates representing all four current batches voluntarily participated in the study. Mean perceived stress level was 21.57 (SD=5.921). Nearly half of the students (52.9%) had high perceived stress levels and most common stress related symptoms were easily feeling tired (75.9%), get nervous (69% ), poor sleep (32.2%) and chest tightness (29.9%). High level of stress was significantly associated with peer competition (OR=2.5, 1.4-10.9), too many assignments (OR=3.9, 1.4-10.9), inadequate support in clinical area (OR= 3.2, 1.1-8.9), unrealistic expectations of the family (OR= 4.0, 1.2-13.5) and lack of guidance and counseling (OR= 4.8, 1.97-12.2). When adjusted for the influencing variables, unrealistic expectations of the family and lack of guidance and counseling were the strong predictors of reporting high stress. Almost half of the nursing undergraduates experience high level of stress due to various academic and personal factors. Unrealistic expectations of the family were the strongest predictor of high stress followed by lack of guidance and counseling. These findings have potentials for planning to improve the quality of the nursing education in the university.