During the twenties, most people complete their education, take up first jobs, shift job and start a family. In this, women, move in and out of employment due to marriage and childcare. Such young adults (20-29 years) comprise around 32 per cent of India’s working population based on 2019-20 data.
The skills of young adults are more relevant to newer job roles. Their adaptability to update skills in a changing landscape helps the overall economy. Given that today’s young adults will stay in the labour market for the next 25 years, a study to understand the change in their employment pattern over the last fifteen years will be of great value. Added to this, analysing the difference between genders, opens several questions. The unit level data from the Employment-Unemployment Survey (EUS) for 2004-05 and Periodic Labour Survey (PLFS) for 2019-20 helps to delve deep.
Education Vs employment
Moving from farm to non-farm jobs tends to be tougher for women, given that most of them are also responsible for managing the household. Women also tend to have lower access to private vehicles and worry about safety during public commuting. This has been shown in a study done in the Chennai metropolitan region.
The decline in agriculture employment is accompanied by a sharp rise in young people still in education. The proportion of young adults in education more than doubled to 13.4 per cent in 2018-19 from 5.7 per cent in 2004-05. The highest proportion of young adults in education are in the prosperous state of Kerala and the poorest state of Bihar. It is striking that both states are known for the laggards in job creation, suggesting that young people may tend to stay in education longer, if they cannot find a suitable job.
Marriage changes employment
The most significant gender divide is the proportion of men and women reporting domestic work as their primary activity. Over 60 per cent of young women in 2019-20, compared to 53 per cent, 15 years earlier reported doing domestic work. The percentage in male was a mere 1 per cent. Much recent research shows that women in paid work are less likely to receive interest from male suitors than those who are not working. Such factors are likely to deter women from taking up jobs in the first place.
Rising Unemployment
The fact that young adults find it challenging to get suitable jobs also reflects rising unemployment. Over 11 per cent young men were still looking for work in 2019-20 compared to just 4 per cent from 2004-05. This once again indicates institutional frictions and a mismatch of aspirations in the labour market. Unemployment among educated young males increased drastically, with around 1 out of 4 educated young males reported as being unemployed.
The unemployment rates among young single men have risen. On the other hand, there is very little unemployment among young married men of the same age and also once they move into their thirties. This suggests that men take up whatever jobs is available once they are getting married or after a certain age. This shows the social stigma that men hold the financial responsibility of the family.
This research throws light on the need of special policy to focus on young adults to lower regional differences and gender variation in employment. This will help in realising India’s demographic dividend.
Vidya Mahambare is a Professor of Economics and Director (Research), Great Lakes Institute of Management. Sowmya Dhanaraj is a Senior Research Fellow, Good Business Lab.
