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The Employment Status of the Elderly in Sri Lanka: Patterns and Determinants

Author

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  • Ajantha, Sisira Kumara
  • Tharaka, Sameera Senanayaka

Abstract

By using the Sri Lanka Household Income and Expenditure Surveys in 2002, 2006/2007, and 2009/2010, this paper examines patterns and determinants of employment status of the Sri Lankan elderly. The study employs multinomial logit model to realize the research objectives. The results of the study reveal that more than 50 percent of the Sri Lankan elderly are currently inactive, yet five percent of the oldest elderly and 18 percent of the elderly with bad health conditions are engaged in labor market activities. The results further demonstrate that younger male elderly, who are married and living in female-headed households are more likely to be employed than to be inactive. The receipts of remittances, social security payments, and bad health conditions reduce the probability of being employed. At present, ethnicity does not play a significant role in determining employment status of the Sri Lankan elderly.

Suggested Citation

  • Ajantha, Sisira Kumara & Tharaka, Sameera Senanayaka, 2012. "The Employment Status of the Elderly in Sri Lanka: Patterns and Determinants," MPRA Paper 42977, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 30 Nov 2012.
    • Handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:42977
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    File URL: https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/43033/1/MPRA_paper_43033.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
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    2. Mete, Cem & Schultz, T. Paul, 2002. "Health and Labor Force Participation of the Elderly in Taiwan," Center Discussion Papers 28470, Yale University, Economic Growth Center.
    3. World Bank, 2007. "Sri Lanka : Strengthening Social Protection," World Bank Publications - Reports 19638, The World Bank Group.
    4. Kalwij, A.S. & Vermeulen, F.M.P., 2005. "Labour Force Participation of the Elderly in Europe : The Importance of Being Healthy," Other publications TiSEM c00729b8-27dc-42f8-9fba-0, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    5. Edwin van Gameren, 2008. "Labor Force Participation of Mexican Elderly: The Importance of Health," Estudios Económicos, El Colegio de México, Centro de Estudios Económicos, vol. 23(1), pages 89-127.
    6. Vodopivec, Milan & Arunatilake, Nisha, 2008. "Population aging and the labor market : the case of Sri Lanka," Social Protection Discussion Papers and Notes 44927, The World Bank.
    7. Giang, Long Thanh & Pfau, Wade Donald, 2009. "A Gender Perspective on Elderly Work in Vietnam," MPRA Paper 24946, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    8. James M. Raymo & Jersey Liang & Hidehiro Sugisawa & Erika Kobayashi & Yoko Sugihara, 2004. "Work at Older Ages in Japan: Variation by Gender and Employment Status," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 59(3), pages 154-163.
    9. World Bank, 2008. "Sri Lanka : Addressing the Needs of an Aging Population," World Bank Publications - Reports 8105, The World Bank Group.
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    11. Hugo Benitez-Silva, 2000. "Micro Determinants of Labor Force Status Among Older Americans," Department of Economics Working Papers 00-07, Stony Brook University, Department of Economics.
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    Cited by:

    1. Samanthi Bandara, 2017. "What Factors Matter for Choice of Livelihood among the Older Workers in Sri Lanka?," Indian Journal of Human Development, , vol. 11(2), pages 210-231, August.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Elderly; Employment Status; Sri Lanka;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J14 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of the Elderly; Economics of the Handicapped; Non-Labor Market Discrimination
    • J11 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Demographic Trends, Macroeconomic Effects, and Forecasts

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