The Challenge of Youth Unemployment in Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka has long been regarded as a model of a successful welfare state in a low-income setting, yet it has not succeeded in creating a sufficient number of "good jobs" for the increasing number of young people. Hence, young Sri Lankans perceive their country as an unjust and unequal society, in which mainstream institutions have failed to address inequalities in the distribution of resources, as well as of benefits deriving from economic growth. Against this background, The Challenge of Youth Employment in Sri Lanka aims to identify ways to improve the opportunities available to new job market entrants by addressing existing inequalities and to help young people more fully realise their potentials. Drawing from original research and a review of existing studies, the authors use the "4Es" conceptual framework to analyse four key aspects of labour markets - employment creation, employability, entrepreneurship, and equal opportunity - identifying main issues and results, current trends, and possible new approaches.