INDIA: UNEMPLOYED OR UNDEREMPLOYED?

Abstract

The paper India: Unemployed or Underemployed analyses the issues of unemployment and underemployment in India with secondary sources on the dynamics of the labor market. As mentioned generally it is one of the foremost problems unemployment suffers from, so equally critical is underemployment, as it prevents productivity realization on both individual and economic levels. Using data from government reports, labor surveys, and studies by organizations such as the International Labour Organization (ILO), this paper investigates trends in employment, the prevalence of informal work, and the difference between job skills and market demand. The results show that a large part of the Indian workforce is concentrated in low-productivity jobs that do not utilize the skills of the workforce, particularly among educated youth and in rural areas. This paper concludes by outlining the policy interventions that underscore skill alignment, non-farm job creation, and social protection measures to mitigate underemployment's negative effects in the context of sustainable and inclusive growth in employment.