Abstract:
Women's labor force participation is one of the important determinants of
economic growth. In this view, marital status has an important role in women's
labor force participation. This study aims to analyze the impact of marital
status on women's labor force participation in the Hemmathagama area. Subobjectives of this research are to identify the relationship between marital
status and women's labor force participation, find out the issues and challenges
faced by women employees, identify the factors influencing women's labor
force participation decisions after marriage, and diagnose the ways to manage
marital status and women's labor force participation in the Hemmathagama
area. Accordingly, primary data were collected through the distribution of
questionnaires among women employees in the Hemmathagama area, and 130
questionnaires were collected for this study. Secondary data were collected
through reports from Mawanella's divisional secretariat, public articles, and
Web pages. The data was analyzed by descriptive and multinomial logistic
regression methods using SPSS software. According to the correlation test,
there is a strong relationship between marital status and women's labor force
participation. The married category of marital status has a positive impact on
women's labor force participation. According to the multinomial logistic
regression analysis, age, support of family, and dependents are important
factors influencing women's labor force participation in the Hemmathagama
area. However, this study found that the 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 intervene to promote the establishment of
educational and training institutions for women and promote informal
workers.
