Acute need to reduce caregiving burden of migrant worker families

October 29 marks the International Day of Care and Support. This article looks at the government’s new social protection strategy, and whether its promise of ‘leaving no one behind’ will respond to the care deficits in migrant worker households.

- By Dr. Venya De Silva

In its recently published National Social Protection Strategy (NSPS) 2025-2035, the government outlines a ten-year roadmap, with “Social Care” as one of its four core priorities.

This recognition of care as a national priority marks a critical milestone in acknowledging the disproportionate burden of care that is currently borne by women in Sri Lanka; however, the challenge now lies in effectively mobilising the NSPS to recognise, redistribute and reduce the burden of care, especially for those households whose economic vulnerabilities expose them to care deficits, which could have costly long-term implications.

The NSPS positions itself as a “foundational pillar in bridging economic reform with social equity, helping ensure that no one is left behind”. In order for the NSPS to truly “ensure that no one is left behind”, the NSPS must be both sensitive and responsive to the needs of migrant workers and their families. On this International Day of Care and Support, we consider why an inclusive social protection strategy will need to prioritise the “left behind” members of migrant worker households, who are often the last rung in the ladder of global care chains.

Female migrant workers today: key trends

In 2024, the Sri Lanka Bureau for Foreign Employment (SLBFE) recorded the highest annual departures for foreign employment which numbered 314,786 -- of this number, 41 one per cent (128,112)were women (CBSL, 2024). This figure surpasses the previous peak of 311,056 annual departures in 2022 (SLBFE, 2022). In 2024, 59 per cent (75,436) of women migrant workers were aged 25-44, coinciding with the age group where women were found to spend the most amount of time on unpaid caregiving services (CBSL, 2024; DCS, 2020).