Who cares for those “left behind”? The National Social Protection Strategy – promises and priorities in the context of care

In Who cares for those “left behind”? The National Social Protection Strategy – promises and priorities in the context of care, Dr. Venya De Silva and Joshua Thananayagam analyze the Sri Lankan government’s recently published National Social Protection Strategy (NSPS). The authors commend the NSPS’s focus on social care, equity, and “leaving no one behind.” To achieve these goals, the authors explain that the NSPS must centre the care needs of the most vulnerable members of society, especially migrant worker households.

Dr. Venya De Silva is a Social Anthropologist and a Research Director at Verité Research. Research support for this article was provided by Joshua Thananayagam, who is a Research Analyst at Verité Research. Verité Research is a Sri Lanka-based Care Economies in Context research partner.

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The 29th of October marks the International Day of Care and Support. This article looks at the government’s new social protection strategy, and whether its promise of ‘leaving no one behind’ will respond to the care deficits in migrant worker households.

In its recently published National Social Protection Strategy (NSPS) 2025-2035, Sri Lanka’s government outlines a ten-year roadmap, with “Social Care” as one of its four core priorities. This recognition of care as a national priority marks a critical milestone in acknowledging the disproportionate burden of care that is currently borne by women in Sri Lanka; however, the challenge now lies in effectively mobilising the NSPS to recognise, redistribute and reduce the burden of care, especially for those households whose economic vulnerabilities expose them to care deficits, which could have costly long-term implications.

The NSPS positions itself as a “foundational pillar in bridging economic reform with social equity, helping ensure that no one is left behind”. In order for the NSPS to truly “ensure that no one is left behind”, the NSPS must be both sensitive and responsive to the needs of migrant workers and their families. On this International Day of Care and Support, we consider why an inclusive social protection strategy will need to prioritise the “left behind” members of migrant worker households, who are often the last rung in the ladder of global care chains.

Female migrant workers today: key trends

In 2024, the Sri Lanka Bureau for Foreign Employment (SLBFE) recorded the highest annual departures for foreign employment which numbered 314,786 – of this number, 41 one per cent (128,112) were women (CBSL, 2024). This figure surpasses the previous peak of 311,056 annual departures in 2022 (SLBFE, 2022). In 2024, 59 per cent (75,436) of women migrant workers were aged 25-44, coinciding with the age group where women were found to spend the most amount of time on unpaid caregiving services (CBSL, 2024; DCS, 2020).

These trends in increasing female migration are driven primarily by economic necessity. In a case study of low-skilled female migrant workers, it was found that the women who had migrated as a domestic worker had done so out of economic hardship, insufficient wages, or the inability to find appropriate employment at home. Another study, part of the International Organisation for Migration’s (IOM’s) compilation on Migration Health Research, found that the inability to clear financial debt with income from local sources and the desire to provide for children’s education were also some of the key push factors that led to migration.

Feminisation of the care deficit

Women spend almost twice the amount of time on unpaid care work compared to men, regardless of their employment status (DCS, 2020). Unsurprisingly, in households with female migrant workers, the care burden often shifts toward younger and older women who are often themselves vulnerable members of the household. This shifting of the care burden to non-spouse caregivers is potentially due to a partiality of care towards women, where there are external pressures from communities for women to assume caregiver roles and internalised perceptions among both care givers and care recipients that female family members are ideally suited to provide care.

The problem is particularly acute for younger women in families with female migrant workers. A study conducted in Colombo, Gampaha, and Kurunegala- districts where the highest number of women migrate for work annually- found that the inability to pursue educational opportunities was common among younger caregivers, with many elder siblings of children dropping out of school or frequently absent in order to look after their younger siblings; some elder sisters and younger aunts had forgone higher education and employment opportunities due to their caregiving responsibility. Additionally, in the event an elderly member of the household falls ill, it is often the younger women in the household who take on the role of the caregiver. Studies have found that non-spouse caregivers, especially grandmothers, experienced mental health issues such as depression, anxiety, and sleep-related disorders nearly three times more than the national average (IOM and MoH, 2015). These issues are compounded by the difficulties that arise due to their age.

The responsiveness of the National Social Protection Strategy to those “left behind”

The NSPS sets out policies targeting migrant workers and their families. These include social insurance schemes integrated with the unified social registry; support centres that offer targeted assistance with counselling, financial literacy, and entrepreneurship development prioritising high migration districts such as Gampaha, Batticaloa, and Anuradhapura; and general social assistance and social care measures that cover some of the vulnerabilities of families with migrant workers. Notably, subsection 2.3 in the strategy details the introduction of caregiver training, psychosocial support, and respite care that targets female caregivers, which may be particularly needed by households that experience shifts in the care burden.

While the NSPS is extensive, closing the gaps to ensure that “no one is left behind” calls for even greater sensitivity and responsiveness to those “left behind” – in other words, the specific complexities faced by non-migrant family members of migrant workers. This will require greater attention to five key areas: (i) identifying households with migrant workers, especially undocumented female workers, in the unified social registry; (ii) piloting and sustaining affordable, quality childcare and eldercare options in high-migration districts; (iii) supporting the caregivers of families of migrant workers, with training, counselling, and respite; (iv) preventing school drop-out and absenteeism among young caregivers; and (v) piloting community-based care systems that assess, manage, and allocate in-home visits by caregivers depending on the need and availability of care support. Through the delivery of targeted income support, social insurance, care services, and other forms of assistance, the new NSPS could play a pivotal role in promoting equity and security in Sri Lanka’s care context, which is marked today by the care deficits and shifting care burdens resulting from a steadily growing migrant workforce.