The growing number of young people worldwide seems to be one of the sources of future economic growth in India. However, the number of Indian youth in labor has been declining. The paper says the problem of youth unemployment and unemployment will remain a major policy issue for many years to come in India. In this context, it highlights the issues and problems of the youth by looking at trends in the youth labor market and people outside the workforce.

The report notes that unemployment among Indian youths is three times higher than among adults in general. In addition, youth income levels are lower than those of adults. With regard to education, the authors note that 89% of young people have not yet undergone any kind of skills training, and among the rest almost half of them have received an education in heritage practices. As a result, this reflects the neglected level of formal vocational training among young people.

The Global Employment Trend for Youth 2020 noted that there has been a steady decline in youth participation in the global workforce. The number of young people increased from 1 million to 1.3 million in the period between 1999 and 2019, but the number of young people involved in labor (whether employed or unemployed) saw a decline from 568 million to 497 million over the same period. The most disturbing pattern for young people worldwide, one in five young people (20%) of young people, and 30% of women and 13% of men – those between the ages of 15 and 24 (the global definition of youth) – is currently classified as NEET. In total, 267 million of the 1.3 billion people worldwide do not have access to the labor market, or earn money from work, or improve their education and skills – suggesting that their work remains unused.

India, at present, is home to the world’s largest population. ‘Indian National Youth Policy’ (2014) defines youth in the country as people aged 15-29 years. According to Census data (2011), young people make up 28% of the country’s population and contribute more than 34% of the national income. Recent estimates show that about 27% of the 1.3 billion people by 2020 are young.

A positive development has been the enrollment of young people in higher education and higher education, which has resulted in better skilled workers and an increase in decent work in many countries. However, the Periodic Labor Force Survey for the period 2017-18, reported a dramatic increase in unemployment rates in the youth population. Of particular concern is the increase in unemployment among educated youth (15-29 years), which has almost tripled from 6.1% in 2011-12 to 17.8% in 2017-18. In particular, technical graduates are known to go the extra mile with an unemployment rate of 37.3%, followed closely by graduates and above (36.2%), graduates (35.2%), and young people with skills (33%). For young women, the unemployment rate is worse in terms of employee participation as well as unemployment. Women are out of work in large numbers, but among those who remain, unemployment rates are higher than among men. This is true even of women who are educated or trained, and the situation has worsened during the COVID-19 epidemic.