The study uses primary data from a large household survey to investigate the factors associated with women’s labour market outcomes in Sri Lanka’s Northern Province after the war. It also investigates how the myriad livelihood development programmes carried out by government, donors, and NGOs impacted on self-employment outcomes. While economic necessity has pushed women heading their households to find employment, the need to engage in market work has been far less compelling for women in male-headed households. However, women in male-headed households appear to have been better able to leverage assets such as crop trees and farm animals, as well as local-level institutions, to generate their own employment. Access to social capital appears to have been critically important for positive outcomes for everybody. Participation in direct livelihood intervention programmes appears to have encouraged self-employment in farming, but discouraged non-farming economic activities. Moreover, since climatic changes have also increased the risks associated with agriculture, the study concludes that although many of the livelihood interventions implemented by government and donors have focused on agriculture, a more diversified approach is needed.