The Challenge of Youth Employment in Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka has been regarded as a model of a country with successful social policies, yet for decades it has faced major challenges in providing employment and satisfying other aspirations of youth. Although the labor force has become more educated, and this trend is particularly marked for youth, the main source of employment for both youth and adults remains the informal sector. Moreover, the importance of the informal sector as a source of employment has increased since the mid-1990s. On the positive side, unemployment declined in last decades, particularly for youth. The Sri Lankan government has continually acted on various fronts to address the youth unemployment problem. It has tried to improve and modernize Sri Lanka's general education system, which has long been criticized as too academic, and to increase the accessibility of training so as to promote the employability youth leaving school. Other actions included strengthening entrepreneurship programs and introducing career guidance and counseling and improving labor market information to help young people in their job searches and to guide human resource planning. In 2007, the government developed the National Action Plan for youth employment, built, for the first time, on a coherent youth employment policy framework and deriving an encompassing and consistent set of policy recommendations. The plan was based on in-depth analysis of Sri Lanka's labor market, provided via a series of background papers undertaken under the auspices of the Youth Employment Network (YEN). To provide the richness and comprehensiveness of this analysis in its totality, these papers, updated and revised, are collected in the present book. This book offers a wealth of valuable advice to the government and other stakeholders to achieve this goal. By exploiting the full potential of the youth, not only will their talent, aspirations, and energy be harnessed to advance economic growth, but also the existing inequities will be reduced and, hopefully in the longer run, eliminated.

Bibliographic Details

Main Authors:	Gunatilaka, Ramani, Mayer, Markus, Vodopivec, Milan
Format:	Publication biblioteca
Language:	English
Published:	World Bank 2010
Subjects:	ACCOUNTING, ACTIVE LABOR, ACTIVE LABOR MARKET, ACTIVE LABOR MARKET PROGRAMS, AGE GROUP, AGE GROUPS, APPRENTICESHIP, BARGAINING, BARGAINING POWER, BULLETIN, CAPACITY BUILDING, CIVIL CONFLICT, CIVIL UNREST, CLIMATE CHANGE, CONSUMER PRICE INDEX, COUNSELLING, DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS, DISCRIMINATION, DISPLACEMENT, DISSEMINATION, DOMESTIC WORKERS, DROPOUTS, ECONOMIC GROWTH, EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT, EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITY, EDUCATIONAL QUALIFICATIONS, EMPLOYABILITY, EMPLOYEE, EMPLOYMENT CREATION, EMPLOYMENT GROWTH, EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES, EMPLOYMENT PATTERNS, EMPLOYMENT POLICY, EMPLOYMENT PROSPECTS, EMPLOYMENT PROTECTION LEGISLATION, EMPLOYMENT STATUS, EQUAL OPPORTUNITY, EXISTING INEQUITIES, EXPORT PROCESSING ZONE, FEMINIST, FINDING WORK, FORMAL SECTOR WORKERS, GENDER DISPARITIES, GENDER EQUALITY, GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT, HIGH UNEMPLOYMENT, HIGH UNEMPLOYMENT RATES, HIGH WAGES, HUMAN CAPITAL, HUMAN DEVELOPMENT, HUMAN RESOURCE, HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT, HUMAN RESOURCES, INCOME, INCOME DISTRIBUTION, INCOME SUPPORT, INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT, INEXPERIENCED WORKERS, INFORMAL EMPLOYMENT, INFORMAL SECTOR, INNOVATION, INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION, INTERNATIONAL MIGRATION, JOB COUNSELING, JOB CREATION, JOB DESTRUCTION, JOB MARKET, JOB PLACEMENT, JOB PLACEMENT SERVICE, JOB SEARCH, JOB SEARCHES, JOB SECURITY, JOB SEEKERS, JOB SKILLS, JOB TRAINING, JOB VACANCIES, JOBS, LABOR ALLOCATION, LABOR COSTS, LABOR ECONOMICS, LABOR FORCE, LABOR FORCE GROWTH, LABOR FORCE PARTICIPATION, LABOR FORCE POPULATION, LABOR LAWS, LABOR MARKET, LABOR MARKET EFFICIENCY, LABOR MARKET INDICATORS, LABOR MARKET INFORMATION, LABOR MARKET INSTITUTIONS, LABOR MARKET ISSUES, LABOR MARKET OUTCOMES, LABOR MARKET POLICIES, LABOR MARKET SEGMENTATION, LABOR MARKETS, LABOR RESOURCES, LABOUR, LABOUR RELATIONS, LEGAL STATUS, LEVEL OF EDUCATION, LIVING STANDARDS, MANPOWER, MARITAL STATUS, MATHEMATICS, MIGRANT, MIGRANT LABOR, MILLENNIUM DECLARATION, MOTHER, NATIONAL ACTION, NATIONAL ACTION PLAN, NATIONAL COMMITTEE, NATURAL RESOURCE, NUTRITION, OCCUPATION, OLDER WORKERS, POLICY ANALYSIS, POLICY FRAMEWORK, POLICY IMPLICATIONS, POLICY MAKERS, POLITICAL ECONOMY, POPULATION TRENDS, PRACTITIONERS, PRIMARY EDUCATION, PRIMARY LEVEL, PRIVATE SECTOR, PRIVATE SECTOR JOB, PRIVATE SECTOR WORKERS, PRODUCTIVE EMPLOYMENT, PRODUCTIVE WORK, PRODUCTIVITY, PRODUCTIVITY GROWTH, PRODUCTIVITY GROWTH RATES, PROPORTIONAL HAZARD MODEL, PROVIDENT FUNDS, PUBLIC SECTOR JOBS, PUBLIC SECTOR WORKERS, RETAIL TRADE, RURAL DEVELOPMENT, SALARIED EMPLOYMENT, SALARIED WORKERS, SEMISKILLED LABOR, SERVICE SECTOR, SEVERANCE PAY, SEX, SKILLED WORKERS, SKILLED WORKFORCE, SKILLS DEVELOPMENT, SMALL BUSINESSES, SOCIAL CONDITIONS, SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT, SOCIAL INCLUSION, SOCIAL POLICIES, SOCIAL POLICY, SOCIAL SCIENCE, SOCIAL SCIENCES, SOCIOCULTURAL ENVIRONMENT, SUITABLE EMPLOYMENT, TECHNICAL EDUCATION, TECHNICAL TRAINING, TEENAGERS, TELEVISION, TERTIARY EDUCATION, TOTAL EMPLOYMENT, TOTAL LABOR FORCE, TOTAL UNEMPLOYMENT, TRADE UNIONS, TRAINING INSTITUTIONS, TRAINING PROGRAMS, UNEMPLOYED, UNEMPLOYED ADULTS, UNEMPLOYED PERSONS, UNEMPLOYED POPULATION, UNEMPLOYED YOUTH, UNEMPLOYMENT DURATION, UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE, UNEMPLOYMENT LEVELS, UNEMPLOYMENT PROBLEM, UNEMPLOYMENT RATE, UNEMPLOYMENT RATES, UNPAID FAMILY WORKERS, UNSKILLED WORKERS, VIOLENCE, VOCATIONAL PROGRAMS, VOCATIONAL TRAINING, VOCATIONAL TRAINING PROGRAMS, WAGE DETERMINATION, WAGE DIFFERENTIALS, WAGE EMPLOYMENT, WAGE GAP, WAGE INEQUALITY, WELL-FUNCTIONING LABOR MARKET, WHITE-COLLAR OCCUPATIONS, WORK EXPERIENCE, WORK FORCE, WORKER, WORKERS, WORKING CONDITIONS, YOUNG ADULTS, YOUNG PEOPLE, YOUNG WOMEN, YOUNG WORKERS, YOUTH ACCESS, YOUTH EMPLOYMENT, YOUTH LABOR, YOUTH PARTICIPATION, YOUTH POPULATION, YOUTH SERVICES, YOUTH UNEMPLOYMENT, YOUTH UNEMPLOYMENT RATE, YOUTH UNREST,
Online Access:	http://www-wds.worldbank.org/external/default/main?menuPK=64187510&pagePK=64193027&piPK=64187937&theSitePK=523679&menuPK=64187510&searchMenuPK=64187283&siteName=WDS&entityID=000333038_20100511023422 http://hdl.handle.net/10986/2451
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