Abstract:
Population ageing or the relative increase of the proportion of those aged 60 years and over in
a population has become a demographic phenomenon of current interest and concern in the
developing countries. The main objective of this study is to identify social characteristics of
the employed elders. The data for this study is drawn from a survey of 150 employed elders
residing in urban and rural areas of Thangalle Divisional Secretariat area in Hambantota
District. Data was collected using an interviewer administrated questionnaire and analyzed
using Uni-Variate and Bi-Variate techniques. More than 50 per cent of rural elderly are in
agriculture, while 33 per cent or the majority of urban employed elders are in fisheries.
According to the study, the majority of the elders in both sectors are Sinhalese. In both sectors
a relatively high number of the employed elders are married. Out of the total sample, only 17
elders are illiterate.
