Work Participation amongst Indian Youth Sanjay Kumar Director Centre for the study of Developing Societies (CSDS) Delhi How big is the issue of Unemployment amongst the Indian Youth? • • • • As soon as we speak of Indian youth few things comes to our mind Large in numbers (sizeable population) Growing in size year after year, decade after decade Issue of educational facilities And of course– the problem of “Unemployment” amongst them Why Indian Youth faces this problem of Unemployment? • Data from the Census clearly indicate that the proportion of Youth in Indian population has increased over the years. • There are now “more” and “better” educational opportunities/facilities. • The employment opportunities are also expanding (if not in Govt. sector but in private sector) • But the differential rate of growth in employment opportunities and those becoming employable (educated) has resulted in increasing problem of unemployment. • There growth of employment opportunities are much less compared to those who are joining the workforce (both skilled and unskilled) Sources of evidence and some explanations Sources of Information • Census Data of 2001 and 2011 • Data collected by Youth Survey conducted by the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies Some Explanation Main worker:- Worked more than 183 days in a year Marginal worker:-Worked less than 183 days in a calender year Non worker:-Who did not work at all. Let us first look at the proportion of Youth population: There is consistent increase in the youth population in India (15- 29 years) 30 25.01 25 25.65 26.08 26.56 26.65 27.5 22.01 20 15 Proportion of youth to total population (%) 10 5 0 1951 1961 1971 Source: Census of India 1981 1991 2001 2011 Since this presentation concerns issue of Unemployment I would like to consider the employable population. (20- 34 years) An increasing youth population between 2001 and 2011 24 24.1 24.9 22 20 18 Percentage of Youth 16 14 12 10 2001 2011 Source: Census of India Growing opportunity for joining workforce: India has more than 20,000 colleges, with almost 10,000 colleges being set up recently 25000 20,667 20000 15000 11,146 10000 5,749 4,738 5000 3,277 1,919 578 0 1950-1951 1960-1961 1970-1971 1980-1981 1990-1991 Source:- FICCI 2012 Report on Twelfth Five Year Plan 2000-2001 2007-2008 Private Institutions lead in terms of number of Institutions and student enrollment University and universitylevel Institutions659 Colleges 33,023 Central 152 Central 669 Diplomagranting institutions12,748 Student Enrollment 2.6 Central NIL 38.6 State 316 State 13,024 State 3,207 Private 191 Private 19,930 Private 9,541 58.8 Private Institutions State Institutions Central Institutions Source:- FICCI 2012 Report on Twelfth Five Year Plan Demand for Vocational Education has resulted in the Growth of Vocational Education and Training Institutes (ITI/ ITC) 6,906 5,253 4,274 4,465 4,647 2000 2001 2002 2,447 1,080 1982 1992 Source:- FICCI 2012 Report on Twelfth Five Year Plan 2005 2009 The Indian Youth also share the view that unemployment is their biggest problem. But similar numbers also believe, poverty is also a big problem for them. 21% 27% 3% 4% 6% 12% 27% Unemployment Poverty Population growth Corruption Illiteracy Terrorism others Source: - CSDS Data Unit. ( Youth Study 2009).Youth here is 15- 33 years. There is increase in proportion of “Non workers” among Youth since 2001 Main workers(worked more than 183 days in a year) Marginal workers(worked fewer than 183 days in a year) Non-workers Source: Census of India Youth (%) 2001 48.4 Youth (%) 2011 44.6 14.1 15.3 37.5 40.0 The proportion of Non-workers has increased among Rural Youth Rural Urban 60 60 50 50 40 40 30 30 20 10 0 2001 2011 20 10 0 Note: All figures in %. Source:- Census of India 2001 2011 The Youth workforce is largely dominated by men, there are very few women Male Female 80 60 40 20 0 80 60 40 20 0 2001 2011 Note: All figures in %. Source:- Census of India 2001 2011 The situation is better amongst Youth belonging to ST community compared to SC 50 45 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 45.5 47.2 41.6 36.6 36 32.3 26.1 All SC ST 17.9 16.8 Main Workers Marginal Workers Non Workers Note: All figures in %. Due to limited age categories provided for 2011 Census Data for SCs and STs, age group 15-34 has been considered for analysis. But all those who are non workers are not employable (amongst 40 percent non workers) • Household Duties/Dependents 60.5% • Students 21.1% • Others 18.4% Source:- Census Data 2011 But problem is much deeper, unemployment is prevalent even amongst those who are employable Unemployment among young graduates in Urban India (upto 29 years) 23.4 2011-12 16.3 24.7 2009-10 Female(%) Male(%) 13.8 30.4 2004-05 18.5 0 5 10 15 20 Note: NSS0 Data 25 30 35 But sadly issue of Unemployment is low on political radar, even youth do not consider this to be an important issue in election Most important problem that the government should address Unemployment as the most important issue for voting 18% 10% 16% 9% 14% 12% 8% 18% 7% 12% 10% 6% 10% 5% 8% 4% 6% 3% 4% 2% 2% 1% 6% 0% 0% 20- 34 years 35 years and above Source: - CSDS Data Unit. SDSA 2013 20- 34 years 35 years and above Source:- CSDS data Unit. NES 2014 Thanks