Urban rural differences in the social characteristics of employed elderly in Sri Lanka: a case study of employed elderly in Thangalle Divisional Secretariat, Sri Lanka

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.