Gender
Education
Age, Marital Status and the Family lifecycle
The percentage of female members of the small farmer groups is high, 56% of the members is female and 44% is male. Table 2. gives the gender of the respondents by the gender of the small farmer groups. 49% of the groups have only female members, 33% has exclusively male members and 18% has a mixed membership. The gender of the mixed groups is relatively equally distributed with 20% more males.
Table 2. Gender of the Group Members by Gender of the Group
|
Gender of the Group
|
Female |
Male |
Mixed |
Total |
||||
|
No. |
% |
No. |
% |
No. |
% |
No. |
% |
|
|
Gender of the Respondent |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Female |
65 |
49 |
0 |
00 |
9 |
7 |
74 |
56 |
|
Male |
0 |
00 |
44 |
33 |
14 |
11 |
58 |
44 |
|
Total |
65 |
49 |
44 |
33 |
23 |
18 |
132 |
100 |
n = all respondentsThe gender of the small farmer groups by the different divisions is not equally distributed; Rattota division has a much higher percentage of female groups. This can most probably be attributed to a larger number of young females in that area who have had considerable education (as will appear in the next section), but who are unemployed, and thus have more time to participate in group activities. Because of the scarcity of agricultural land and for status reasons these girls are less often engaged in cultivation activities. Table 3. gives the gender of the small farmer group by division.
Source: Resource-Base Survey, 1990.
Table 3. Gender of the Small Farmer Group by Division
|
Division |
Naula |
Dambulla |
Rattota |
Total |
||||
|
No. |
% |
No. |
% |
No. |
% |
No. |
% |
|
|
Gender of the Group |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Mixed |
11 |
20 |
10 |
18 |
2 |
10 |
23 |
18 |
|
Female |
22 |
41 |
27 |
47 |
16 |
76 |
65 |
49 |
|
Male |
21 |
39 |
20 |
36 |
3 |
14 |
44 |
33 |
|
Total |
54 |
100 |
57 |
100 |
21 |
100 |
132 |
100 |
n = all respondents
Source: Resource-Base Survey, 1990.
The literacy rate in Sri Lanka is high. In 1981, 83.7% of the total population in Matale district over 10 years of age was literate (Sri Lanka Census of Population and Housing 1981, Matale District Report: 30)1. The level of education of the group members is higher than the average for Matale District in their age group. As will appear in the next section, the average age of the group members is 33 and 93.2% of all group members has at least some education. Whereas for this age group (30-34 years of age), in Matale District 87.1% has at least some schooling (ibid.: 56). For female members, who have an average age of 31, 89.2% had attended school, compared to 81.7% for their age group (30-34 years) (ibid.: 57) in the Matale district. Of the male members who have an average age of 37, 98.3% attended school, while for their age group (35-39 years) the district average is 92.4% (ibid.: 56). (See Table 1. in the Annex.)
1Literacy is defined in the Census as the ability to read and write a short message in at least one language. This probable corresponds with an education of at least first grade primary school.Thus, while still above average, about 10% more female group members than male group members did not attend school. Also about 15% more male members than female members had more than three years of primary schooling.
The level of illiteracy among the different divisions is highest in Rattota (9.5%), followed by Dambulla (8.6%) and is lowest in Naula (3.8%). See Table 2. in the Annex. However, all levels are below the above mentioned Matale district average. The members from Dambulla had less secondary education than members from Naula and Rattota and more members of Rattota had more secondary education than in Naula. (See Table 2. in the Annex.)
The average age of all group members is about 33. Members of female groups (average of 31) are younger than members of male groups (average of 37) and mixed group members have an average of 33 years old. (See Table 3 in the Annex.)
The average number of children per married2 group member is 3.2, with hardly any difference between the average number of children for female, male and mixed group members. The average number of children for all group members is 2.1. (See Table 4 in the Annex). It is difficult to compare these figures with the Total Fertility Rate3 for Sri Lanka as projected for 1990, which is 2.3 (World Population Data Sheet), because many female group members are still in their childbearing years. However, it can be assumed that the fertility rate for female group members will be somewhat higher than the national rate.
2Here marriage includes both registered and unregistered marriages. None of the group members who were not married had children.The average household size for all group members is 5.2, with 5.1 for Naula, 5.3 for Dambulla and 5.1. for Rattota. (See Table 5 in the Annex.) For this survey no distinction was made between the number of household (the unit that eats from a common pot) members and the number of people living in one house. For Sri Lanka the ratio households/occupied houses is about 1.03. Furthermore, the average household size in Sri Lanka is about 5.25 (personal communication UNFPA, Colombo) which, multiplied by 1.03, gives an average of about 5.4 persons living in one house. Consequently, it can be stated that the household sizes among group members are somewhat lower than the national average.3The Total Fertility Rate is defined as the average number of children a women will bear in her lifetime, assuming that current age-specific birth rates will remain constant throughout her childbearing years (usually considered to be ages 15-49).
About 70% of the group members are married; however, it is worth noting that fewer members of mixed groups tend to be married, i.e., 61%. (See Table 6 in the Annex.) About 10% of all members stated that they do not cohabit with their partner anymore, mostly for the reasons that they have left their partner or that their partner had deserted them. (See Table 7 in the Annex.)
These data indicate that the average profile of the group member is a relatively young person with a relatively young family, i.e., with children in the not-yet-schoolgoing or early schoolgoing ages. Usually in this lifecycle, in rural households, the family is short of labour to work on the land and to attend to other necessary tasks. Labour pooling on land, which is one of the most important activities performed by the groups (as will appear later) may therefore be beneficial to people in this age group and also for the persons who are single parents.
