INDIA EMPLOYMENT REPORT 2024 (Syllabus: GS Paper 3 – Economy)

India Employment Report 2024

• About: It is the third installment of a regular publication by the Institute for Human Development focusing on labor and employment issues.
• Partnership: International Labour Organization (ILO)
• Focus: The report delves into the critical issue of youth employment, analyzing its challenges amidst evolving economic, labor market, educational, and skills landscapes in India.

Key findings

• Employment quality: Nearly 90% of the workforce is informally employed, with approximately 82% engaged in the informal sector.

oSelf-employment has emerged as the leading source of employment, constituting 55.8% of the workforce in 2022.

• Participation of women: Between 2000 and 2019, female LFPR declined by 14.4 percentage points, while male LFPR decreased by 8.1 percentage points. However, between 2019 and 2022, female LFPR rose by 8.3 percentage points, compared to 1.7 percentage points for males.

oIndia's LFPR Context: India's low LFPR is predominantly attributed to the significantly low female LFPR. Although it was below the global average of 47.3% in 2022, it was higher than the South Asian average of 24.8%, according to ILO data.

• Structural Transformation: The share of agriculture in total employment dropped to approximately 42% in 2019 from 60% in 2000.
• Construction and services sectors absorbed much of this shift, with their share in total employment increasing to 32% in 2019 from 23% in 2000.
• Youth employment: In 2022, the proportion of unemployed youths in the total unemployed population was 82.9%, with an increasing share of educated youths among them.
• Suggestions: 5 key policy areas for further action:

oPromoting job creation

oImproving employment quality

oAddressing labour market inequalities

oStrengthening skills and active labour market policies

oBridging the knowledge deficits on labour market patterns and youth employment