Context

• India Employment Report 2024 was recently released by the Institute for Human Development (IHD) and the International Labor Organization (ILO).

Key Points

• According to this report, overall labor force participation, workforce participation and employment rates in India have improved in recent years after a long-term decline during 2000-2019, but the employment situation remains poor.
• Moreover, there has been a slow shift towards non-agricultural employment.
• The number of women in self-employment and unpaid family work has increased.
• The employment situation of youth is worse than that of adults. The proportion of unpaid family work is higher among youth than among adults, along with stagnant or declining wages and earnings.
• Unemployment has increased among educated youth in India. In the last 22 years, the number of unemployed youth with secondary education or above has increased.
• In 2000, the share of educated youth among all unemployed was 54.2 percent, which increased to 65.7 percent in 2022.
• Among educated (secondary level or above) unemployed youth, the share of women (76.7 percent) is higher than that of men (62.2 percent).
• Apart from this, this report shows that the problem of unemployment in India is increasing rapidly among the youth, especially the educated youth and women in urban areas.
• 83 percent of the total unemployed people looking for work in India are youth. About 90% of workers remain engaged in informal work, while the share of regular work, which had been rising steadily since 2000, has declined since 2018.
• The report said that only a small percentage of the total people in the work force are covered under social security.
• Along with this, the practice of contracting has also increased, with only a small percentage of regular employees coming under long-term contracts, while India is currently going through a demographic dividend.
• The report said that the youth do not have the skills to work. 75% of youth are unable to send emails with attachments, 60% are unable to copy and paste files, and 90% are unable to put math formulas into a spreadsheet.
• Highlighting the growing social inequalities, the report said that despite affirmative action (reservation, etc.) and targeted policies, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes still lag behind in terms of access to better jobs.
• Due to their economic needs, people belonging to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes participate in work, but they are more engaged in low paid, temporary casual wage work and informal employment.

Main factors responsible for unemployment in India

• Social causes
• Rapid growth of population
• Dominance of agriculture
• Decline of cottage and small scale industries
• Immobility of labor
• Flaws in the education system

What should be done?

• According to the above report, to increase the quality of jobs, India should explore and invest in some such activities which are likely to provide more jobs to the youth. For example care work, digital field work etc.Given the increasing rate of urban growth and the potential for people to migrate to cities in India, the report says it is necessary to develop a plan for urban development to support people who migrate, including women and poor youth. In which all people can be included.

Important Facts For Exam

ILO

• ILO established: 1919
• Headquarters: Geneva, Switzerland
• Director General: Gilbert F. hongbo