Since the early 1960s, open unemployment emerged as a major socio-economic problem. The most important feature of unemployment in Sri Lanka is the predominance of unemployed youth. It has been estimated that 75 to 80 percent of the country’s’ population live in rural areas which means that the bulk of unemployed youth come from rural areas. Whilst much attention and research has gone into unemployment in Sri Lanka, this publication highlights specific problems of rural unemployment and the reason it continues to be a major issue for more focussed attention.