Exploring Determinants of Desire Towards Enrolling in Contributory Pension: Evidence from Self-employed and Informal Sector Workers of  Sri Lanka

Proceedings of The 6th World Conference on Social Sciences

Year: 2023

DOI:

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Exploring Determinants of Desire Towards Enrolling in Contributory Pension: Evidence from Self-employed and Informal Sector Workers of  Sri Lanka

W.S.M. Goonatilaka, W. Indralal De Silva, N. Sakalasooriya

 

ABSTRACT: 

Social security is an essential mechanism for reducing old-age poverty and improving the living standards of vulnerable individuals. One such social security instrument is the contributory pension scheme. This study aims to identify the determinants of self-employed workers’ desire towards enroll in a contributory pension scheme offered by the State. A simple random sampling technique was employed to select respondents, and face-to-face interviews were conducted with 300 participants with a designed questionnaire in the Kurunegala district of Sri Lanka. The Heckman’s two-stage regression approach was utilized to analyze the data. The results revealed that female self-employed workers, individuals in middle-age, who are never married, people with an average education, those with fewer dependents, individuals with high incomes, and workers with fair financial knowledge have a greater probability of enroll with contributory pension scheme. Enhancing financial knowledge, promoting financial inclusion, and reducing structural barriers can significantly foster retirement planning behaviour. It is important to encourage target workers, in general, to enroll in the pension scheme, restore confidence in it, and ensure its sustainability. The findings of this study can be beneficial for the development of pension products, particularly for rural and self-employed workers, to attract participation in the pension scheme.

keywords: Contributory-pension, Determinants, Self-Employed, Desire