New Delhi:
According to the latest World Bank report, India is looking at a positive trend in the increase in jobs.
Since 2021–22 financial year, the employment has increased at a faster pace compared to the population of work-age, exposed in the report. An important aspect of this development is the increasing participation of women in the workforce.
The World Bank report said, “Employment growth has surpassed the working age population since 2021-22. Employment rate, especially among women, and urban unemployment has fallen to 6.6 percent in Q1 FY24/25, the lowest since 2017-18.”
The report also led to a sharp decline in urban unemployment. In the first quarter of the 2024–25 financial year, urban unemployment fell to 6.6 percent-the lowest level since 2017-18. Another major trend has been observed, which is a change in the activist movement. For the first time since 2018-19, more men are migrating from rural areas to cities in search of employment.
At the same time, rural women are increasing jobs in agriculture, indicating changes in employment patterns across the country.
However, the report faced continuous challenges. Young unemployment is 13.3 percent, even more among those who have completed higher education-29 percent of them are still demanding jobs.
The World Bank report states, “Only 23 percent of non-agricultural payments are formal, and most agricultural employment is informal.”
The report also highlighted the increase in self-employment, especially among rural workers and women. Instead of taking regular jobs, the increasing number of individuals is choosing to work for themselves.
Despite the improvement in women’s employment, inequalities remain. Women’s employment rates have reached 31 percent, but paid jobs still have 234 million more men than women.
The World Bank report said, “Despite the 31 percent of the women’s employment rate, gender inequalities remain, with 234 million more men in the paid work.”
Addressing poverty, the report stated that the five-populated state-of-the-most-populated state, Maharashtra, Bihar, West Bengal and Madhya Pradesh-2011, had 65 percent of India’s very poor population.
While these states have contributed to the reduction of poverty over time, in 2022-23, they still have 54 percent of the country’s extreme poor and 51 percent of the multi-faceted poor.
(Except for the headline, the story has not been edited by NDTV employees and is published by a syndicated feed.)
