Nearly 83% of jobless Indians are youth: Report

Nearly 83% of jobless Indians are youth, says International Labour Organisation Report

Unemployment remains a major issue among India’s youth, with nearly 83% of the jobless population under the age of 34, according to the India Employment Report 2024 published by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and the Institute of Human Development (IHD).

According to the report, education levels in India have improved considerably in the last few years, but educated youth are struggling to find jobs, reflecting a mismatch between their aspirations and available jobs.

The report said that over 10 million job seekers registered with the National Career Service portal between 2015–16 and 2019.

“Among them, nearly 64 percent were men and 83 percent were youths aged 15–34,” it said.

Moreover, the report shows that the youth unemployment rate increased with the level of education, with the highest among graduates and higher among women than men.

“The educated unemployment rate increased over the past 22 years, but with a sharp decline between 2019 and 2022. In 2022, the unemployment rate among youths was six times greater for those who had completed secondary education or higher (18.4 percent) and nine times higher for graduates (29.1 percent) than for persons who could not read or write (3.4 percent),” it said.

Chief Economic Adviser (CEA) V. Anantha Nageswaran released the report on March 26.

The CEA said it would be ‘incorrect’ to believe that the government should intervene to solve every social and economic problem.

“We need to get out of this mindset. In the normal world, it is the commercial sector and those who engage in for-profit activity who need to do the hiring,” he said.

Opposition parties seized on the report to criticize the Central government.
The national president of the Congress Mallikarjun Kharge said, “Our youth is bearing the brunt of Modi govt’s pathetic apathy... ILO & IHD Report conclusively says that the unemployment problem is grim in India.”
CPI(M) leader John Brittas cited the report on X and said, “Yet another pointer as to how our youngsters are facing bleak future on the employment front.”

Demographic challenges

While the substantial youth population presents an opportunity for the country to leverage its demographic dividend to drive economic growth, this could face challenges if a large part of the population stays unemployed or underemployed.

India’s youth population accounted for 27% of the total in 2021, and is projected to decline to 23% by 2036, the study said. The study also said that the country is likely to add around 7-8 million people to its workforce in the next decade.

Moreover, the distribution of employment opportunities is also a concern, it said. States such as Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, and Chhattisgarh have struggled over the years.

Technological advancements have also affected jobs. The report noted that there is a concerning lack of skills, especially digital literacy, which has also hampered employability.