Youth employment deteriorated in India: ILO report

GS Paper 3

Syllabus: Employment

Directions: Note down a few data points

Source: The Hindu

Context:

• India experienced severe working-hour and employment losses in 2020 and 2021, and Indian youth employment deteriorated in 2021 compared to 2020, according to the Global Employment Trends for Youth 2022 report released by the International Labour Organization.
• The recovery in youth employment is still lagging globally, the report says, confirming that COVID-19 has hurt young people more than any other age group.

Key Findings:

• Role of Pandemic: Pandemic has worsened the numerous labour market challenges facing those aged between 15 and 24 years.
• Young people are affected more than adults: Youngsters in this age group experienced a much higher percentage loss in employment than adults since early 2020.
  • The total global number of unemployed youth is estimated to reach 73 million in 2022, a slight improvement from 2021 (75 million), but still six million above the pre-pandemic level of 2019,” the report said.

On India

• Surveys conducted by the Center for Monitoring the Indian Economy(CMIE): The youth employment participation rate declined by 0.9 percentage points over the first nine months of 2021 relative to its value in 2020, while it increased by 2 per cent points for adults over the same time period.
  • The situation is particularly severe for very young people aged 15-20 years,” the report said.
• Quality education and training opportunities: Countries are required to create decent jobs, especially in green, blue and digital economies, and to set economies on the path towards greater sustainability, inclusiveness and resilience.
• Unequal access to online education: School closures lasted 18 months and among the 24 crore school-going children, only 8% of such children in rural areas and 23% in urban areas had adequate access to online education.
  • Given the deeply unequal access to online resources in developing countries, children from socio-economically disadvantaged families, which are the large majority, had almost no access to education,” the report said.
• Learning regression: It said school closures not only prevented new learning but also led to the phenomenon of “learning regression”, that is, children forgetting what they had learned earlier.
  • In India, 92% of children on average lost at least one foundational ability in language and 82% lost at least one foundational ability in mathematics,” the report said citing studies.
• Role of MGNREGA: The report appreciated the MGNREGA and said it has played an important role in providing paid employment, particularly for women, but also in carbon sequestration because of the Act’s focus on natural resources, such as land, water and trees, which provide adaptation benefits.
• Low youth female market participation: It added that India has a very low youth female labour market participation and Indian young women experienced larger relative employment losses than young men in 2021 and 2022.
• High youth employment losses: In general, the high youth employment losses in India drive up the global average employment losses.
  • Young Indian men account for 16% of young men in the global labour market, while the corresponding share for young Indian women is just 5%,” the report said.
• Private school teachers less paid: The study found out that teachers in non-state schools are often paid significantly less than those in state schools.
  • Teachers in low-fee private schools in India, Kenya, Nigeria and Pakistan are paid between one-eighth and one-half of what their counterparts in the state sector receive,” it added.
• Highly informal domestic work: It added that domestic work is a highly informal sector in India, wages are extremely low and young women and girls are vulnerable to abuse.
• Abuse reports: Reports of abuse suffered by young domestic workers are common, including verbal and physical abuse, and sexual exploitation,” the report said.

About ILO:

• Established as an agency for the League of Nations following World War I.
• Established by the Treaty of Versailles in 1919.
• It became the first specialised agency of the United Nations (UN) in the year 1946.
• It got the Nobel Peace Prize in 1969.
• It is the only tripartite U.N. agency. It brings together governments, employers and workers.
• Headquarters: Geneva, Switzerland.

Reports by ILO:

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Q. Incidence and intensity of poverty are most important in determining poverty based on income alone”. In this context analyze the latest United Nations Multi Poverty Index report. (UPSC 2020)

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