<p class="bodytext">Failure to generate employment has been the weakest feature of the Indian economy, and it still continues to be so. Creation of jobs has not gone in tandem with GDP growth while the population and the number working age people have been steadily rising. This has resulted in denial of the fruits of GDP growth to large numbers of people. There have been many attempts to study the various aspects of the problem with the help of various kinds of data. Disciplines other than economics have also been involved. The job market has changed substantially over the years, and it is necessary to understand it for better outcomes. A new report by the Azim Premji University has tried to do so using data from various sources, including government surveys, including the Periodic Labour Force Surveys, Annual Survey of Industries, Economic Census, and National Family Health Survey.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The study shows that the unemployment rate for young graduates at the entry level is as high as 42%. The situation is better for older and less educated people. The conclusion is that either young graduates do not have the right and necessary skills, or enough opportunities are not being created for educated people. Both might be true. This has implications for the education system and for the economy. Another observation is the increasing shift of employment from farm to non-farm sector. But the people moving out of farms have generally found only low-paying casual work. While men usually went into the construction sector, women went out of the labour force altogether. The female workforce participation in rural India has fallen from over 40% in the 2000s to about 28% now. It has increased since 2019, but mainly in terms of self-employment, which is a sign of distress. Both the female labour force participation rate and the overall worker participation rate are low, and this is a major weakness of the economy. </p>.<p class="bodytext">One finding which has welcome social significance is that there is better inter-generational mobility in employment over the years. While about 80% of sons of casual wage workers were engaged in casual employment in 2004, this came down to 53% for non-Scheduled Caste and non-Scheduled Tribe groups in 2018. There was improvement in the case of SC, ST groups also but that has been to a lesser extent. The study has again confirmed that GDP growth has not adequately supported employment growth in the country. This calls for a re-examination of the nature and strategies of economic growth and development. This will become all the more important with the expected increase in population in the coming years.</p>
<p class="bodytext">Failure to generate employment has been the weakest feature of the Indian economy, and it still continues to be so. Creation of jobs has not gone in tandem with GDP growth while the population and the number working age people have been steadily rising. This has resulted in denial of the fruits of GDP growth to large numbers of people. There have been many attempts to study the various aspects of the problem with the help of various kinds of data. Disciplines other than economics have also been involved. The job market has changed substantially over the years, and it is necessary to understand it for better outcomes. A new report by the Azim Premji University has tried to do so using data from various sources, including government surveys, including the Periodic Labour Force Surveys, Annual Survey of Industries, Economic Census, and National Family Health Survey.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The study shows that the unemployment rate for young graduates at the entry level is as high as 42%. The situation is better for older and less educated people. The conclusion is that either young graduates do not have the right and necessary skills, or enough opportunities are not being created for educated people. Both might be true. This has implications for the education system and for the economy. Another observation is the increasing shift of employment from farm to non-farm sector. But the people moving out of farms have generally found only low-paying casual work. While men usually went into the construction sector, women went out of the labour force altogether. The female workforce participation in rural India has fallen from over 40% in the 2000s to about 28% now. It has increased since 2019, but mainly in terms of self-employment, which is a sign of distress. Both the female labour force participation rate and the overall worker participation rate are low, and this is a major weakness of the economy. </p>.<p class="bodytext">One finding which has welcome social significance is that there is better inter-generational mobility in employment over the years. While about 80% of sons of casual wage workers were engaged in casual employment in 2004, this came down to 53% for non-Scheduled Caste and non-Scheduled Tribe groups in 2018. There was improvement in the case of SC, ST groups also but that has been to a lesser extent. The study has again confirmed that GDP growth has not adequately supported employment growth in the country. This calls for a re-examination of the nature and strategies of economic growth and development. This will become all the more important with the expected increase in population in the coming years.</p>