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They make up nearly a third of the country. Almost 90% are educated to some extent. Traditional gender differences in education and work are diminishing. The much anticipated advantage of having an enormous population of young people seems within India's grasp. And yet the system is pressing them down. An unconscionable number of adolescents are already working although they should be studying. In rural areas, staggeringly high numbers of youth are working as agricultural labourers. And over 20% are jobless. These are some of the findings of the latest Census 2011 data released on Thursday.
The number of adolescents (10 to 19 years old) in the country is over 25 crore while youth, defined by the census as people between 15 and 24 , number 23 crore. The total young population between 10 and 24 years is nearly 36.5 crore — more than 30% of the country's population.
Although the census does not give detailed educational qualifications, literacy rates among this young population are indicative. Over 90% of adolescents and 86% of youth are literate compared to an overall literacy rate of 63%. For the whole population, 70% of men and 56% of women are literate.
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That the young people are crushed down by an unheeding system and made to waste the prime of their lives in low paying irregular jobs is clearly revealed by the census data on marginal workers, that is, those who get work for less than six months in a year.
While about a quarter of India's workforce is engaged in marginal work, over 45% adolescents and 34% youth are such marginal workers. This marginalization of youth is higher in rural areas, but even in urban areas, where educated youth would expect to find jobs more to their aspirations, over 20% of them are doing irregular and low paying jobs.
One popular perception punctured by the census data is that youth are deserting traditional occupations like agriculture or household industries. The proportion of youth involved in cultivation or working as manual laborers in rural areas is the same as for workers of all ages put together. Clearly, the demographic dividend is being frittered away in the fields.
Unheeding system forcing India?s youth into low-paying jobs - The Times of India
The number of adolescents (10 to 19 years old) in the country is over 25 crore while youth, defined by the census as people between 15 and 24 , number 23 crore. The total young population between 10 and 24 years is nearly 36.5 crore — more than 30% of the country's population.
Although the census does not give detailed educational qualifications, literacy rates among this young population are indicative. Over 90% of adolescents and 86% of youth are literate compared to an overall literacy rate of 63%. For the whole population, 70% of men and 56% of women are literate.
....................
That the young people are crushed down by an unheeding system and made to waste the prime of their lives in low paying irregular jobs is clearly revealed by the census data on marginal workers, that is, those who get work for less than six months in a year.
While about a quarter of India's workforce is engaged in marginal work, over 45% adolescents and 34% youth are such marginal workers. This marginalization of youth is higher in rural areas, but even in urban areas, where educated youth would expect to find jobs more to their aspirations, over 20% of them are doing irregular and low paying jobs.
One popular perception punctured by the census data is that youth are deserting traditional occupations like agriculture or household industries. The proportion of youth involved in cultivation or working as manual laborers in rural areas is the same as for workers of all ages put together. Clearly, the demographic dividend is being frittered away in the fields.
Unheeding system forcing India?s youth into low-paying jobs - The Times of India
