The stress of Silicon Valley Bank's sudden collapse was clear Monday, as a long line of clients lined up to get cash from the Santa Clara headquarters.
By Sangeeta Dey , Senior Education Specialist, World Bank & Shobhana Sosale , Senior Education Specialist , World Bank
Despite robust growth and reduced poverty, female labor force participation in Sri Lanka remains at a low 36 percent compared to 75 percent for men and below international standards.
This number stands in stark contrast with Sri Lanka’s human capital improvements for women, such as high female education levels and low total fertility rates. Leaving many women out of the workforce means that Sri Lanka loses about 20 percent of its gross domestic product on average.
Access to affordable Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) directly affects Sri Lanka’s labor force . A 2018 study found that having a child under five years of age reduced a Sri Lankan woman’s participation in the labor force by 7.4 percent compared with a woman who did not have a young child.