UNEMPLOYMENT

Unemployment is a universal problem, especially in developing countries. Unemployment has an impact on the individual and the economic well-being of the country. Suppose a person with the capacity and potential to work refuses or fails to obtain work. In that case, he not only does not gain any status in society but also suffers from several emotional and social problems. His plight affects himself, his family, and society too. It is also referred to as joblessness, which occurs when people are without work and is actively seeking employment. Sometimes it is often described as a condition of involuntary idleness. An unemployed person has the potential and willingness to work but is not able to find any remunerative work. Some sociologists define unemployment based on unemployment criteria, i.e., time, income, and productivity.

We can use the following formula to calculate it:

Unemployment Rate = (No. of Unemployment Persons/Total Labourforce) x 100

Definition of Unemployment

  1. According to C. B. Mamoria, “Unemployment is a state of worklessness for a man fit and willing to work, that is, it is a condition of involuntary and not voluntary idleness.”

  2. According to D’Mello, “a condition in which an individual is not in a state of remunerative occupation despite his desire do so.”

  3. Nava Gopal Das states, “Unemployment is often described as a condition of involuntary idleness.”

Socio-economic factors that contribute to unemployment in India

As a person, becoming unemployed can be so stressful and painful experience. For example, in paying bills, the threat of losing a home, feeling rejected in society while hunting for a new job, and declining self-esteem. How can people be able to cope in society if he is unemployed? The unemployment rate in India as of 24 July 2019 in India is 7.6%, and in June 2019, Tripura's unemployment rate was 26.2%.

The socio-economic status is a collective measure of status based on education, income, wealth, and occupation, as well as an individual’s family background: parents’ education, income, wealth, and occupation—all of these impacts how a person will experience unemployment.

For instance, if a man with a Ph.D. degree works as a petty clerk in an office, he will not be considered unemployed; he would be viewed as an ‘underemployed’ person. Similarly, someone with more education is less likely to be unemployed. In the given table, the unemployment rate of different states is highlighted below.

 

Sources: CMIE (Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy Pvt. Ltd.) Unemployment Rate in India, 2019

Although the unemployment rate stabilized at around 7 percent in the first five months of 2019, it has shown a growing trend.

“The unemployment rate in May 2019 was 7.17 per cent. This is slightly lower than the 7.35 per cent unemployment rate recorded in April 2019. But, this fall does not indicate an easing of the unemployment rate. Unemployment rate has remained elevated in 2019 compared to its levels in 2018 when it averaged at about 6 per cent,” CMIE stated in its report.

One needs to look at the unemployment figures in the context of every field and what is going on in the real economy. Factory output has been struggling to revive for decades, caused by a drag in the manufacturing sector and investment activity.

The factory output Index of Industrial Production (IIP) or industry group needs to look into the index of all the items based on the category, such as primary goods, capital goods, intermediate goods, etc. As per highlights of IIP growth rate of April 2019 has been upward revised to 4.3 percent (provisional) from 3.4 percent. The IIP registered a growth of 3.1 percent in May 2019 over the Index of May 2018. As per the given table below, the growth for the Index of Manufacturing, Mining, and Electricity was 2.5 percent, 3.2 percent, and 7.4 percent, respectively, during May 2019. IIP registered a cumulative growth of 3.7 percent from April to May 2019-20 over the corresponding period of the previous year.

Growth of Index of Industrial Production (IIP) (in percent)

Thus, one of the key factors that resulted in the relationship between education and unemployment differs across the states. What is observed is that the unemployment rate increase with an increase in the educational level. If so, could this be due to demand or skill mismatches or low absorption of the labour markets in every state, or does it have a negative relationship between higher education and employment rate? We can only hope this does not impact the economic factors, which can reduce the unemployment rate drastically.

Types of unemployment

Let us classify types of unemployment according to Ram Ahuja in his “Social Problems in India” on the following –


  1. Seasonal unemployment: 

It is associated with agriculture. During the off-season, many labourers have to spend their time idly. In some industries like the sugar industry, workers get jobs only for a certain period of the year. This type of unemployment makes the workers migrate. For this reason, when the season is over, they don’t get work in the factories, and they will have to wait for the next season to come by in order to find the same work. According to Dr. Salter, the farmers in South India are busy only for five months of the year, and for the rest of seven months, they while away their time doing nothing economically productive. Similar is the case with the peasants all over India. As a result, seasonal unemployment is marked in rural areas.

  1. Agricultural unemployment: 

The Centre has provided the data for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE), New Delhi, 7.61% of rural unemployment rate in April 2019, which was the highest in two years.  By citing Ram Ahuja in his “Social Problem in India,” a cultivator in India remains unemployed for about four to six months a year. Calvert is of the opinion that in Punjab, a cultivator does not work for more than 150 days in a year. Jack in Economic Life of a Bengal District explains that a jute worker remains unemployed for nine months and a rice manufacturer for seven and half months in a year. These are examples of seasonal unemployment caused by the nature of the work involved.

  1. Cyclical unemployment: 

It occurs because of cyclical fluctuations in the economy in trade and business, which goes ups and downs. When there are demands in entrepreneurs, they earn high profits, but if the demands reduce, they get less profit or suffer losses, or their products remain unsold and pile up. These boom, recession, depression, and recovery phases are typical characteristics of a capitalist economy. This is probably an oversimplification of the cyclical unemployment concept, but it is still true and couldn’t be denied.

  1. Industrial Unemployment: 

Ram Ahuja, in his “Social Problem in India,” gave a very clear concept stating that large-scale migration of people from rural to urban areas, losses incurred by industries, slow growth of industries, competition with foreign industries, unplanned industrialization, defective industrial policies, labour strikes or employers’ lockouts, rationalization, and so on.

  1. Technological unemployment: 

Technological unemployment occurs due to specific modifications in production techniques or other workplaces that might not require much manual labour. Machine production has multiplied the number of commodities since the industrial revolution. During the fourth Industrial Revolution, modern technology brought intensive capital, which required less labourers and contributed to this unemployment. The industry has also diminished an average man’s economic security since every technological advance has meant a displacement of human labour.

  1. Educational unemployment: 

Many educated people tend to remain unemployed due to their educational qualifications not matching the available job profiles or being unable to find appropriate jobs to suit their qualifications. University Grants Commission (UGC) annual reports clearly stated that the present education system generates much waste and stagnation. According to the study made by the UGC in 1977, a majority of the courses taught in the universities had not been revised for the last 30 years and were obsolete. Due to this reason, Draft National Education Policy 2019, chaired by Dr. K. Kasturirangan, submitted a report to change the education system in India. They were hoping that this could generate lots of employment in every sector in India. The Kothari Commission (1964-66) also admitted a wide gulf between the contents of the present education and purposes and national development concerns. As per the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) reports, the stock of graduate+ in India was about 100 million in late 2018. Of this, 53 million were employed. Another 8 million were actively looking for a job but were unable to find one. These are the ones we call the unemployed. The remaining 39 million were not sufficiently interested in working. These 39 million are not considered unemployed. They are voluntarily not in the labour force and therefore are not considered unemployed.

Causes of Unemployment in India

G. R. Madan, in the Indian Social Problem, is divided into two broader categories of causes of unemployment (i) personal and (ii) technological and economic. The following are discussed in detail –

  1. Personal factors: 

It includes defects in character, physical disability, etc., which in other words means physical, mental, and moral deficiency of the labourers. Many times, a person, despite his desire, is unable to work owing to his deformity, weak mentality, accidents, defective education, training, etc. However, many physically deformities, directly or indirectly, to the factory system, the obligation in which case falls on the employer.

Elliott and Merrill have mentioned the following under the personal factors.

  1. Age factors: 

It is both considered young and old persons in getting employment. According to the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE), the unemployment rate among those who had completed graduation or higher education (graduate+) has been rising steadily since mid-2017. In September-December 2018, the unemployment rate among these had reached 13.2 percent. A year ago, the unemployment rate in this group was 12.1 percent. Similarly, persons above forty years and particularly those past fifty and sixty have the highest proportionate incidence of unemployment. A report by the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE), a Mumbai-based think-tank, published in 2019, also found that qualified youth—those with bachelor’s degrees and above—faced the highest unemployment.

  1. Vocational unfitness: 

The rising unemployment rate with rising education levels indicates that India cannot produce sufficient decent quality jobs for the better educated. And, the better educated are not willing to take up just any crappy job. Therefore, the young people have not understood their abilities or potentiality, or interest, which leads them to seek employment which is more non-efficient. On the other hand, employers seek more qualified and competent trained workers. Due to this reason, we find more trained in a particular profession than required. The demand is less than the supply and hence creates unemployment.

  1. Illness and/or physical disabilities: 

Many workers are temporarily or permanently unemployed because of illness or other physical disabilities. Illness induced by industrial conditions or the hazards of the particular industry accounts for a more significant number. Industrial accidents are often fatal and sometimes make the workers permanently disabled being able. Other specific dangers of industry are occupational diseases. In addition to those who are physically disabled because of illness or accident, we have the blind and the crippled who not only constitute a problem unto themselves but augment the number of both the unemployed and the unemployable.

  1. Technological and economic factors: 

Due to the advancement in technical skills and highly specialized division of labour, able-bodied and capable men cannot secure jobs. Labour problems are also closely related to other phases of our economic order, such as disturbed market conditions, low buying power, high tariffs, etc. Presently in India, the jobs crisis among educated youth has often been described as a ticking time bomb, given that half of India’s 1.3 billion population is below the age of 25.

The Director of the Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE) Department of Labour and Social Policies has no doubt stated, “Automation will not create unemployment. Continuous training will be the only way to limit the polarizing effect between workers and high and low qualifications.” In underdeveloped countries, insufficient real capital per head of population also leads to various forms of unemployment disguised or manifested.

Consequences of Unemployment in India

Social disorganization indicates the existence of diseased or disruptive elements in society. Just as a disease is known by its symptoms, social disorganization may be known by its symptoms. Mabel, A. Elliot, and Francis E. Merrill have pointed out that social disorganization may be of three types, i.e., disorganization of the individual, the family, and the community. Let us discuss in detail the following below –

  1. Individual disorganization: 

The unemployed person faces disillusionment and falls easy prey to cynicism. Unable to tune in the right direction, the youth deviate themselves into a crime such as bandits, highway robberies, smuggling, drug trafficking, etc. This deviant behavior is not accepted in societies and leads to disequilibrium in the structure of personal affairs and later affects the family. Most unemployed young boys are generally recruited by criminals increasing the number of criminals with the decrease in work opportunities. On the other hand, the plight of an earning person who loses his job is equally sad. According to Trading Economics, Youth Unemployment Rate in India increased to 23.70 percent in the fourth quarter of 2018 from 23.10 percent in the third quarter of 2018, reaching an all-time high of 23.70 percent in the fourth quarter of 2018 and a record low of 22.90 percent in the second quarter of 2018.

  1. Family disorganization: 

Personal disorganization will also trigger the members' disharmonious functioning, which creates discord with the family members. This creates tensions between the family of unemployed husband and wife and increases conflict between parents and children. There can also be various factors. Let us try to highlight some of them. The wife of an unemployed person wants to take up a job. Still, the idea of a wife taking up a job irritates the husband with the traditional practice and conservative values, which stick so much that conflict within the home arises. This could also be that the husband objects to any substantial assumption of authority by their wives in the fields that the husbands consider traditionally their own. On the other hand, the conflict between husband and wife may arise when the unemployed husband wants his wife to take up a job, and the wife is reluctant to do so because of the presence of small children at home. This leads to divorce, illegitimate births, desertion, and venereal disease.

  1. Community disorganization: 

It is a process by which breakdowns of social relationships between group members are broken or dissolved. The activities of the unemployed are so restricted and their attitudes so bitter that in this phase of disillusionment and discouragement, they lose their desire to work, and their skills may deteriorate with a resultant loss to the whole community. This may be included poverty, unemployment, crime, and political corruption. It may be, however, noted that no definite distinction can be made among the three types of disorganization because they are interdependent.

Solutions to the unemployment in India 

  1. The very first solution to unemployment is to control the rising population; the current population of India is 1,369,739,165 as of July 28, 2019, based on the latest United Nations estimates. Therefore, everyone and the government should motivate to have small families.

  2. The quality of Indian education should be improved. Hoping that Draft National Education Policy 2019 should improve our education system. But the current education system is not upto the level. Government should keep a strict watch on the education system and try to implement new ways to generate a skilled labour force.

  3. Also, today’s youth should join the institute or select the course where proper training is given, and the course is as per the current industries requirements. To take up the course as per their interest will bring bright to their future.

  4. Government should encourage and develop agriculture-based industries in rural areas so that the rural candidates don’t migrate to the urban areas. More employment should be generated in rural areas for the seasonal unemployed people.

  5. Rapid Industrialization should also be created in diverse areas by not stagnating in only one state.

  6. The development of the rural areas will stop the migration of the rural people to the urban cities, and this will not put more pressure on the urban city jobs.

  7. Government should allow more foreign companies to open their unit in India so that more employment opportunities will be available in every diverse area.

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