The latest quarterly bulletin on employment and unemployment indicators released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, Government of India makes interesting reading. The latest data presented in the bulletin in based on the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) carried out between July-September 2019, i.e., well before the lockdown forced by the outbreak of SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. The key highlights of the survey are as follows:
·
For the purposes of the Survey, the “Labour
Force Participation Rate” (LFPR) is defined as the ratio of population
which offers itself for employment, whether currently employed or unemployed.
The “Worker Population Ratio” (WPR) is the ratio of employed workers in
the total population of the country.
·
As per the latest data, in urban areas, LFPR was
~37%. For the young people (15-29yrs) the rate was at ~39%, while all people
above 15yrs of age, the LFPR was ~47%.
·
There still exists a significant gender gap in
the labour force participation in the country. The female LFPR is just 16% vs
male LFPR of ~57%. Even in the younger population (15-29yrs) female LFPR is
~18% vs male LFPR of ~59%.
·
The WPR in India is ~34%. For younger people
(15-29yr) WPR is ~31%, while for all legal workers (15yr and above) WPR is
~43%. In WPR also, a significant gender gap exists. The male WPR is ~52% while
female WPR is below 15%. For population aged above 15yrs, male WPR is 68% while
female WPR is ~18%.
·
More than 50% workers in India are either
self-employed or are engaged as casual workers. Only ~49.6% workers have
regular wage employment.
·
More women (57.4%) are in regular employment
than men (47.5%). About 9% women workers are employed as unpaid helper in
household enterprises. For male workers this ratio is ~4%.
·
In urban areas 62% workers are engaged in
tertiary (service) sector. About one third workers are engaged in secondary
(industry) sector. More female workers (65%) are engaged in services sector
than male 61%.
·
Overall unemployment rate during Survey period
(July-September 2019) was 8.4%. For youth (15-29yrs), the unemployment rate was
at ~20.6%, while for all workers 15yr and above, the unemployment rate was
8.3%.
·
More young (15-29yrs) female workers (24.1%)
were reported unemployed than the male workers (19.6%).
To conclude, we can say—
(a) The gender gap in
work force is alarming and does not augur well for the acceleration in the
growth rate. If we juxtapose this data with the education statistics, we find
that bridging of education gap between male and female population has not
resulted in equal opportunity for female in employment.
(b) Prevalence of
higher unemployment amongst youth (15-29yrs) may be an indicator of serious
skill mismatch.
(c) High ratio of
self-employed and casual labor, inter alia, indicates (i) lower employment
elasticity in the organized sector and (ii) skill mismatch.
