Abstract:
Women’s labour force participation is one of the important determinants of economic growth. In
this view marital status has an important role in women’s labour force participation. This study
aims to analyze the impact of marital status on women's labour force participation in the
Hemmathagama area. Sub objectives of this research are to identify the relationship between
marital status and women's labour force participation, to identify the factors influencing the
women's labour force participation decision according to their marital status and to find out the
issues and challenges faced by women employees in the Hemmathagama area. Accordingly,
primary data were collected by distributing questionnaires among women employees in the
Hemmathagama area and 130 questionnaires were collected for this study. Secondary data were
collected through reports of the Mawanella divisional secretariat, published articles and web
pages. The data were analysed by descriptive and multinomial logistic regression methods using
SPSS software. According to the analysis, marital status is imports on women labour force
participation, meanwhile the married category of marital status is an important factor that impact
on women's labour force participation. According to the correlation test, there is a strong
relationship between marital status and women’s labour force participation. However, this study
found that women employees are facing many challenges like child care, housekeeping, family
responsibilities etc. This study suggested that women employees need family support to manage
these problems. The government should ensure the provision of subsidized childcare facilities in
the research area.
