IPS study provides new insights to tea estate workers’ pay
According to a study by Institute of Policy Studies (IPS), the estimated living wage (a little more than the minimum pay rates needed to let workers and their families lead a decent life) for the estate workers in the tea plantation industry in Sri Lanka was Rs. 21,585 in December 2015.
However, the prevalent wage at the time was only Rs. 16,971. With the wage revisions in October 2016, this gap narrowed significantly with the living wage estimate standing at Rs.21, 866 and the prevalent wage being Rs. 19,021. Due to high inflation level in July 2017, the estimate of the living wage increased to Rs.23, 314 while the prevalent wage remained at 19,086, widening the gap once again. This study marked the start of a journey towards paying the workers in the estate sector a living wage by estimating a living wage for the tea sector in the country, which accounted for 12.3 percent of total exports in 2016 in Sri Lanka. Unlike the minimum wage, a living wage is not legally enforced. Official poverty line wage for Sri Lanka stands at Rs.8, 236. The purchasing power parity (PPP) adjusted World Bank extreme poverty line wage for Sri Lanka stands at Rs. 6,170.
“…it is clear that both the Sri Lankan official poverty line wage and World Bank poverty lines wages are too low to provide sufficient income to afford a basic living wage,” the study stated.