<p class="bodytext">The findings of the India Employment Report released by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) have again highlighted the problem of continuing high unemployment in India. According to the report, the country’s youth account for almost 83% of the unemployed workforce. The share of jobless youth with secondary education in the total unemployed youth has almost doubled from 35.2% in 2000 to 65.7% in 2022. The labour force participation rate (LFPR), worker population ratio and the unemployment rate showed a long-term deterioration between 2000 and 2018, though there was an improvement after 2019. The report said that this improvement needs to be interpreted cautiously as jobs generated in the slowdown period raise questions. About 90% of the workers are engaged in informal jobs. India’s LFPR remains lower than that in other emerging economies such as Indonesia and Vietnam, where they are at least above 60%. It is a matter of particular concern that women’s LFPR of 32.8% in 2022 was about 2.3 times lower than the 77.2% for men. </p>.Congress has concrete plan to tackle unemployment: P Chidambaram.<p class="bodytext">The report has thrown up many alarm signals. The share of youth who are not in employment, education or training was on an average about 29.2% between 2010 and 2019. It’s the highest in South Asia. There is the contradiction that unemployment among educated youth is high even as industry complains of a shortage of labour for skilled jobs. Education does not give the right training for jobs and even the claimed high economic growth does not create the number of jobs that are required. Though the economy bounced back after the Covid pandemic, there was a change in the nature of employment growth. Many people went back to agriculture, which cannot be considered as remunerative. Many others, especially women, found self-employment which has been seen as risky and unsustainable for most. There was a fall in non-farm employment. Underemployment is a serious problem for most in the labour market. </p>.<p class="bodytext">India takes pride in the size of its young population and hopes to take advantage of the demographic dividend that it offers. But the share of the youth in the population would fall in the coming years and the opportunity to take advantage of a youthful population will soon slip away. The strife and discontent resulting from large-scale unemployment can have serious economic, social and political repercussions. High GDP growth is in itself not enough. A combination of unequal growth, unemployment and inflation can be a prescription for disaster. A job-oriented growth strategy, an education system that supports it, and congenial social and economic policies are essential for the country to get out of its present rut. </p>
<p class="bodytext">The findings of the India Employment Report released by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) have again highlighted the problem of continuing high unemployment in India. According to the report, the country’s youth account for almost 83% of the unemployed workforce. The share of jobless youth with secondary education in the total unemployed youth has almost doubled from 35.2% in 2000 to 65.7% in 2022. The labour force participation rate (LFPR), worker population ratio and the unemployment rate showed a long-term deterioration between 2000 and 2018, though there was an improvement after 2019. The report said that this improvement needs to be interpreted cautiously as jobs generated in the slowdown period raise questions. About 90% of the workers are engaged in informal jobs. India’s LFPR remains lower than that in other emerging economies such as Indonesia and Vietnam, where they are at least above 60%. It is a matter of particular concern that women’s LFPR of 32.8% in 2022 was about 2.3 times lower than the 77.2% for men. </p>.Congress has concrete plan to tackle unemployment: P Chidambaram.<p class="bodytext">The report has thrown up many alarm signals. The share of youth who are not in employment, education or training was on an average about 29.2% between 2010 and 2019. It’s the highest in South Asia. There is the contradiction that unemployment among educated youth is high even as industry complains of a shortage of labour for skilled jobs. Education does not give the right training for jobs and even the claimed high economic growth does not create the number of jobs that are required. Though the economy bounced back after the Covid pandemic, there was a change in the nature of employment growth. Many people went back to agriculture, which cannot be considered as remunerative. Many others, especially women, found self-employment which has been seen as risky and unsustainable for most. There was a fall in non-farm employment. Underemployment is a serious problem for most in the labour market. </p>.<p class="bodytext">India takes pride in the size of its young population and hopes to take advantage of the demographic dividend that it offers. But the share of the youth in the population would fall in the coming years and the opportunity to take advantage of a youthful population will soon slip away. The strife and discontent resulting from large-scale unemployment can have serious economic, social and political repercussions. High GDP growth is in itself not enough. A combination of unequal growth, unemployment and inflation can be a prescription for disaster. A job-oriented growth strategy, an education system that supports it, and congenial social and economic policies are essential for the country to get out of its present rut. </p>
