Labour Market Profile of the Youth: Role of Education, Caste, and Economic Background

This study based on the employment–unemployment surveys and the periodic labour force surveys reflects on the labour market outcomes of the youth. It pursues a detailed analysis of various labour market indicators over time and brings out the vulnerability of the youth belonging to younger age cohorts with relatively lower educational attainments and poor socioeconomic background. Further, the rural youth are susceptible to greater hardships in the labour market compared to their urban counterparts. On the whole, youth are mostly employed in activities which do not offer any stability or social security. Such transient jobs may provide short-term support to income augmentation at the household level though in the long run it does not raise the employability or capability from the point of view of accessing stable jobs. Finally, the study reflects on important policy implications. Imparting quality education to the youth with a practical and job market orientation would be useful for improved outcomes. However, education also tends to reduce the probability of being outside the labour force, implying that demand must improve concurrently to reduce the excess supplies.