The Impact of Sri Lanka's Ongoing Economic Crisis on Youth Migration

Abstract

The study aims to examine the effect of the economic crisis on the migration of youth in Sri Lanka. To this end, quantitative research examined variables such as better educational opportunities, better career prospects, mental frustration, entrepreneurship intention, and the dependent variable of migration intention. A quantitative research approach was adopted using an online Likert scale questionnaire to target young Sri Lankans. Further, to appraise the quantitative analysis, a qualitative aspect was also utilized to evaluate the findings impartially. The findings suggest a moderately strong relationship between better educational opportunities, better career prospects, and mental frustration with the intention of Sri Lankan youth to migrate. Still, the relationship between entrepreneurship intention and migration intention is not significant. The study's qualitative aspects also reveal that young migrants are likely to experience both beneficial and detrimental consequences from migration, with many looking forward to better economic and educational opportunities and challenges like cultural adjustment and being apart from family and friends. However, most of them anticipate that migration is a joyous achievement.

Further, most respondents were not confident they would return to Sri Lanka after migrating abroad for better education opportunities. This draws attention to the growing brain drain problem the country is experiencing, especially considering that the study was conducted among the youth of the country (16-35 years old). The study exposes policymakers' senses that youth migration is a significant concern.