In India, 83% of youths suffer from unemployment. The International Labour Organisation has released its data!
Recently, the Institute for Human Development (IHD) and the International Labour Organization (ILO) jointly released a report on employment in India titled “India Employment Report 2024”. The report examines India’s emerging economy, labour market, education, skills, and youth employment in the context of changes over the past two decades.
The Institute of Human Development (IHD) is an autonomous organization established in 1998 under the Indian Society of Labour Economics (ISLE). Its goal is to establish a society that supports a political, social, and economic order free from poverty. Similar to this, one of the specialized UN agencies working to promote social and economic justice for workers globally is the International Labour Organisation (ILO). Its main office is in Switzerland.
This report published by the Institute for Human Development (IHD) and the International Labour Organization (ILO) shows that most of the youth in India are still struggling with unemployment. The report further states that the Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR), Workforce Population Ratio (WPR), and Unemployment Rate (UR) have seen long-term declines between 2000 and 2018, but have seen improvements since 2019.
Youth suffering from unemployment:
According to data from the ‘India Employment Report 2024’, nearly 83% of Indian youth are unemployed. Among the total unemployed youth, the share of secondary or higher education completed youth increased from 35.2% in 2000 to 65.7% in 2022. The unemployment rate has doubled among those with secondary or higher education.
Accordingly states like Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, and Chhattisgarh have been struggling with dire employment problems for years.
Also, the proportion of young people in the population is anticipated to decline from 27% in 2021 to 23% in 2036.
It is hoped that this will reduce youth unemployment in the future.
However, about 90% of Indian workers do unpaid labour. According to the report, nearly 75% of young people do not know how to send attachments via email, and a significant number of young people lack even the most basic digital literacy.
Expanding Gender Disparity in Work:
There is a significant gender gap in Indian employment. Unemployment is increasing especially among highly educated women.
As per the 2022 survey, 61.2% of men and 21.7% of women are joining the labour force, respectively. According to the report, the number of women joining the workforce decreased sharply between 2012 and 2019. However, later since the pandemic in 2019, this number has somewhat increased as more women have entered occupations related to agriculture.
Increased migration due to unemployment:
India is expected to have a migration rate of around 40% in 2030 and will have an urban population of around 607 million.
The change in the migration rate in India in the last twenty years (2000-2021) can be seen from the graph below.
The direction of migration, in general, is from eastern, northeastern and central regions to southern, western, and northern regions.
What can be done to reduce unemployment?
The report recommends the following strategies to improve the quality of employment and reduce inequalities in the labour market.
- promoting job creation
- Reducing unemployment by providing youth with the vast majority of skills training that the industry demands.
- Encouraging youths to invest in industries like the digital economy, which are predicted to increase their employment opportunities
- Increasing urbanization and encouraging labor migration
- Significantly increase the participation of women in employment
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