Updates from Sri Lanka

Visualizing the Care Economy for an Inclusive Sri Lanka

The Sri Lanka team recently published a working paper entitled, “Prioritizing the Care Economy for an Inclusive Sri Lanka,” which finds that unpaid care work accounts for 14.1% of Sri Lanka’s GDP. The findings underscore the significant but unrecognized economic contribution of care work and its implications for gender inequality, labour force participation, and social welfare.

To amplify the impact of this research, project partner Verité Research published a graphic-forward, plain language social media post that makes the findings easily accessible to non-academic audiences. You can view the post as a PDF below or on LinkedIn.

“Care makes all other work possible”

Media coverage

In an article for The Morning entitled “Sri Lanka eyes care economy in 10-year social care plan”, journalist Sindy Fernando referenced “Prioritizing the Care Economy for an Inclusive Sri Lanka,” saying:

The economic significance of the care economy is highlighted in Verité Research’s ‘Prioritising the Care Economy for an Inclusive Sri Lanka’ report, based on data from Sri Lanka’s 2017 National Time Use Survey, estimates that the value of unpaid care and domestic work is equivalent to approximately 14% of GDP, with women contributing 86% of this value.

Verité Research also pointed out that prioritising the care economy is essential for inclusive growth, social well-being and economic resilience in Sri Lanka.

A Proposal for Establishing State-Run Elder Welfare Centres

Following a public invitation to submit proposals for the 2027 national budget, the project team met with the Mayor of Colombo to present their proposal for establishing state-run Elder Welfare Centres. The draft recommends building a welfare centre in each of the country’s 25 districts to promote active ageing and to reduce the long-term care burden on caregivers.

You can read the proposal below, or access it on the Budget Proposal Hub, an interactive portal for budget ideas maintained by Verité Research.

Read the proposal

Transforming Care Systems for Women’s Economic Empowerment

Lead Analyst Nadhiya Najab represented Verité Research at the “Transforming Care Systems for Women’s Economic Empowerment” regional workshop and policy forum in South Korea. The forum brought together regional stakeholders to discuss the strengthening of care systems to advance women’s economic empowerment and to improve the integration of care into public policy and urban planning.