The nature, problems and profitability of the female owned micro - enterprises in the Anuradhapura area

Abstract

Difference between males and females, which is genetic, has become a part of society from the time immemorial. Based on the above biological difference, there exists a historical differentiation of sexes in the job market. The majority (67.9%) of Sri Lankan labour force is female (Central Bank, 2008). Among them majority is unemployed and if they are able to secure employment, it would be a solution for poverty alleviation. A research reveals that the returns of micro enterprises conducted by males are higher than that of the females (Zvelglick and Rodgers, 1999). It is further indicated that the profitability of the female owned micro enterprises is low and slow (de Mel, Mckenize and Woodruff, 2008). Therefore, main objective of this research is to identify the nature of female owned micro enterprises. The other objectives are to study the problems and profitability of micro enterprises and the social and economic environment of females who are involved in micro enterprises. In the methodological part, both the primary and the secondary data were used for this research. 50 female owned micro enterprises and 50 male owned micro enterprises were randomly selected for the sample and they were interviewed using a questionnaire. Central Bank reports, relevant books, magazines and internet were used to collect the secondary data. The findings indicate that the nature of micro- enterprises depends on gender in the Sri -Lankan society. Lower profits were recorded among female owned micro enterprises, which is a result of women selecting high competitive micro enterprises. Further the close proximity of competitors were a factor in low profits. This led to limit their customer numbers and the size of the market. In addition to that basic problem women are not able to engage in their business continually throughout the day as they had to be housewifes.