PART – I
The term unemployment refers to a state in which an individual actively seeks a job that provides money but is unsuccessful. International Labour Organisation (ILO) defines an unemployed person as someone, within the age limits specified for measuring the economically active population, who is (i) without work (ii) currently available for work and (iii) seeking work’. However, ILO (2024) developed a new indicator, ‘Jobs Gap’ which leverages the ICLS concepts to capture all persons who want employment but do not have a job irrespective of their availability and willingness at a given point of time.
Unemployment is a critical issue that continues to challenge the economic landscape of India. As one of the world’s most populous nations with a population of more than 1.40 billion and diverse workforce, fluctuations in the unemployment rate have far-reaching implications for the country’s growth and development. Unemployment is not regional but a global problem. ILO’s World Employment and Social Outlook Trends: 2024 (WESO Trends) reports that important differences persist between higher and lower income countries in unemployment rate and the jobs gap rate. While the jobs gap rate in 2023 was 8.2 per cent in high-income countries, it stood at 20.5 per cent in low-income group. Similarly, while the 2023 unemployment rate persisted at 4.5 per cent in high-income countries, it was 5.7 per cent in low-income countries.
Unemployment or more inclusively the ‘jobs gap’ among educated youth, especially graduates and above, is not only a problem but a curse. It shatters the dreams of parents who nurture them right from the day their wards start schooling. Most of them face financial, social and psychological hardships to materialize their dreams but end up with frustration when they find their children jobless despite all efforts and getting trapped in many bad habits especially drugs due to joblessness.
The unemployment crisis is predominantly youth centric so let’s first try to understand the term ‘youth’ and its demographic power in India. Youth refers to individuals in 15-29 year age group, as defined in the Centre’s National Youth Policy, 2014. In the census 2011, those in 15-29 year age group accounted for 27.5% of the population. According to Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation report (2022), titled ‘Youth in India 2022’, this group has fallen slightly to 27.3% and will continue to decline so that by 2036 the group will account for 22.7% only while as those above the age of 30 will form the majority of country’s population.
India remains poised to reap its demographic dividend. Each year, around 7–8 million people in youth age group are added to the labour force whose productive utilization could lead India to attain prosperity. Over the years, education levels have improved considerably and is a key determinant of accessing better jobs. At the same time, educated youth have higher rates of unemployment, reflecting a mismatch with their aspirations and available jobs.
Youth unemployment and underemployment have never remained static. Both these factors increased between 2000 and 2019 but declined after pandemic years. Youth unemployment increased nearly threefold, from 5.7 per cent in 2000 to 17.5 per cent in 2019 but declined to 12.1 per cent in 2022 and further to 10 per cent in 2023.
Among the youths, educated youths have experienced much higher levels of unemployment. The youth unemployment rate has increased with the level of education, with the highest rates among those with a graduate degree or higher and higher among women than men. In 2022, the share of unemployed educated youths in the total unemployed population was 82.9 per cent (India Employment Report 2024).This indicates that the problem of unemployment in India has become increasingly concentrated among educated youths. Educated female youths experienced higher levels of unemployment as compared to their male counterparts.
Educated youths, whether men or women not only want jobs but desperately aspire for stable white-collar jobs. However, due to societal pressures and financial constraints a large proportion of highly educated young men and women, including the technically educated, are overqualified for the job they apply for. The analysis of the extent to which highly educated youths (graduate level and higher) have taken up blue-collar public sector jobs indicate large shares. Concealment of higher qualification while applying for menial jobs has become very common. Post graduates and technical graduates and even candidates with PhD apply for the jobs meant for middle pass or matriculate candidates. Although educational attainment has increased overall, there appears to be sharp constraints on the demand side that are pulling down the employment rates (for highly educated and poorly educated youths) and thus pushing up the unemployment rates. This leads to even highly educated youths taking up a low-skill blue-collar job.
The unemployment figures are generally misconstrued. A graduate, post graduate or even above if constrained to opt for a group-D job is apparently employed but in real sense the individual is an underemployed whose self-respected is trampled every now and then. Chanakya has well said, “Never settle for anything which is less than what you deserve, it’s not pride, it’s self-respect” but for earning livelihood a person is forced to compromise and the dictum along with scores of principles ignored. A recent report released by the ILO and the IHD revealed that two out of every three unemployed individuals is a young graduate, highlighting the need for urgent policy intervention.
(To be continued…)
(The Author is Principal (Rtd) J&K Higher Education Department. Feedback: Feedback: [email protected])
