Financial Times

Dangers of uneven development
The preliminary findings from the Central Bank's Consumer Finances and Socio-economic survey 2003/04 has confirmed several key trends which policymakers have noted in recent years. One is that the island's population is aging without a commensurate increase in formal retirement benefits.

Another is that while education levels are rising, there is no proportionate match between employment expectations and opportunities. A third is that on regional economic disparities where the latest survey has confirmed that over the past 25 years, since the economy was opened up and a free market model adopted, development has been lop-sided with the Western Province becoming somewhat of an oasis of prosperity surrounded by a sea of poverty.

These anomalies are expected to continue and could possibly worsen as the economy grows unless the government and the private sector take urgent measures to address these issues and arrest such dangerous trends.

There are some positive signs as well. Over the past 40 years, household size has declined by more than one person in all three sectors covered by the survey - urban, rural and estate. The number of income receivers per household had risen in the urban and rural sectors although it has declined in the estate sector.

This means that overall, the dependents per income receiver ratio had declined, signifying improving welfare of households. Another heartening finding is that the literacy rate, now over 90 percent, continues to rise. This is indeed a good sign because there was a time in the recent past when a survey showed that the literacy rate had actually declined a little - an unheard of situation since such measures of social and economic development usually go in one direction.Still, there are disparities that need to be overcome.

For instance, it was found that among those aged 25 years and over, literacy rates declined with age and were lower in all age groups for women than for men. They also declined between urban, rural and estate sectors and were relatively lower for women in some of the more neglected provinces such as the central, eastern, Uva, and southern provinces.

However, literacy rates among the youth and young adults were over 90 percent, with no disparity between males and females as well as among sectors. This indicates that educational standards and opportunities had improved and become more equal over time.

In fact one notable finding, highlighted during a Central Bank presentation last week, was that the share of females with post-secondary education was higher than for men in all age groups up to 55 years! This fact, however, should be digested with the more sobering discovery that the share with no schooling was higher for females in all age groups above 25 years and remained at two-digit levels in certain provinces like the eastern, Uva and central provinces.

While housing conditions have improved across the country, with over 80 percent having permanent walls, flooring and roofing material, and almost the same percentage having access to electricity and sanitary toilet facilities, housing conditions were poorest in the estate sector.

This is a tragedy considering that it is this sector that is this country's main net foreign exchange earner in terms of exports. While the regional plantations companies, with government and donor support, have embarked on projects to improve living conditions for workers on estates, the latest survey reveals that a lot more remains to be done.

This is all the more urgent given the shortage of labour that is being experienced in some estates and the need to retain workers on estates in order to ensure the sustainability of the industry.

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