Impact of marital status on women labour force participation: a study based on Hemmathagama

Abstract

Women's labor force participation is one of the important determinants of economic growth. In this view, marital status has an important role in women's labor force participation. This study aims to analyze the impact of marital status on women's labor force participation in the Hemmathagama area. Subobjectives of this research are to identify the relationship between marital status and women's labor force participation, find out the issues and challenges faced by women employees, identify the factors influencing women's labor force participation decisions after marriage, and diagnose the ways to manage marital status and women's labor force participation in the Hemmathagama area. Accordingly, primary data were collected through the distribution of questionnaires among women employees in the Hemmathagama area, and 130 questionnaires were collected for this study. Secondary data were collected through reports from Mawanella's divisional secretariat, public articles, and Web pages. The data was analyzed by descriptive and multinomial logistic regression methods using SPSS software. According to the correlation test, there is a strong relationship between marital status and women's labor force participation. The married category of marital status has a positive impact on women's labor force participation. According to the multinomial logistic regression analysis, age, support of family, and dependents are important factors influencing women's labor force participation in the Hemmathagama area. However, this study found that the women employees are facing many challenges, like child care, housekeeping, family responsibilities, etc. This study suggested that women employees need family support to manage these problems. The government should intervene to promote the establishment of educational and training institutions for women and promote informal workers.