For Indian graduates under 25, the unemployment rate is around 40%

According to a survey issued by Azim Premji University, despite India’s rapid economic development, the jobless rate among graduates under the age of 25 reached a staggering 42 percent post-Covid.

According to the most current CMIE Report, urban unemployment fell to 7.93% in February from 8.55% the previous month, but rural unemployment grew to 7.23% from 6.48%. The unemployment rate in India rose to 7.45% in February, up from 7.14% in January.

“Post-Covid the unemployment rate is lower than it was pre-Covid, for all education levels. But it remains above 15% for graduates and more worryingly it touches a huge 42% for graduates under 25 years,” the report STATE OF WORKING INDIA 2023 Social Identities and Labour Market Outcomes released by Azim Premji University.

Aside from that, the research adds that the link between growth and decent employment is still weak. It was noticed that the notion of job creation altered between 2004 and 2019, but was halted by the pandemic, which resulted in a bigger increase in troubled employment.

According to the research, female employment has increased since 2019 owing to a rise in self-employment caused by distress. Before e Covid, 50% of women were self-employed; with r Covid, this increased to 60%. “Even two years after the 2020 lockdown, self-employment earnings were only 85% of what they were in the April-June 2019 quarter,” the report said.

In a similar vein, the research said that gender norms continue to be important for women’s employment. According to the report, married women living in families where the mother-in-law is present but not working are 20% (rural) to 30% (urban) less likely to be employed. Daughters-in-law are 50% (rural) to 70% (urban) more likely to be employed if their mother-in-law is working.

According to the research, Scheduled Caste employees fell fast over time in waste-related and leather-related employment, albeit they were not abolished as of 2021-22.

“In the leather industry, the representation index declined sharply to 1.4 in 2021. In waste management and sewerage, over-representation of SCs decreased to 1.6 times in 2011 before increasing slightly again,” the report said.

Furthermore, the research said that lower-caste entrepreneurs are still uncommon. According to the survey, even in the smallest business sizes, SC and ST owners are under-represented in comparison to their percentage of the total workforce. However, SC and ST business owners are underrepresented among companies with more than 20 employees.