Disparity in Quality of Life and Education Attainment of Children within the Tea Sector: Case Study in Low-Country in Sri Lanka

Abstract

In Sri Lanka, household income and living standards in the estate sector are lower than those in other sectors. The tea sector is an important industry in the estate sector, where the structure has changed over time, with an increase in smallholders and improvements in living conditions. This change has made the living environment and educational opportunities within the tea sector no longer uniform. This paper aims to identify the disparity in quality of life and education attainment of children and attempts to describe the structure of the differences behind these disparities by focusing on the three management types. Quantitative and qualitative methods were applied to this analysis. Primary data for 302 households were collected between 2013 and 2015. Six indicators of the environment surrounding children and two indices of education attainment were used. Four indicators show statistically significant disparities among management types. A comparison between the six indicators and management types indicates that people on the PEs are more likely to live under the low quality of life and face the difficulties, which are related to the social structure of the management type to which the households belong.