Youth unemployment is historically two to three times higher than older age groups due to factors like temporary contracts, increased education expectations, and lack of experience. During recessions, youth employment rates are significantly affected. Youth make up 25% of the global working population but account for 40% of total unemployment. Common causes of high youth unemployment include lack of skills, demographic mismatch between jobs and youth population, lack of career guidance, and impact of past unemployment on future prospects. Increasing job opportunities through policies promoting sectors like manufacturing, labor law reforms, and improving education and skills are suggested to address the issue.

1. Unemployment Among Youth
Youth unemployment is the lack of job opportunities for people typically aged 15–24 years old. This age range is determined by the period
when mandatory schooling ends through the age of 24. In order to qualify as unemployed for official and statistical measurement, the
individual must be without employment, willing and able to work, of the officially designated 'working age' and actively searching for a
position. Historically, the youth unemployment rate has been two to three times higher than in older age groups. It is typically higher in
developing countries, but has become a problem in countries around the world, including those in the global north. During the 1960s, the
United States and Canada were the only industrialized countries to have youth unemployment rates over 10 percent, but by the 1980s many
more countries had double digit youth unemployment rates. The recession in 2008 affected employment rates for youth in Europe and North
America significantly. In 17 middle-income countries surveyed, all saw a moderate or significant decrease in wage employment during the
recession.
Youth make up 25 per cent of the global working-age population , yet their share in total unemployment is 40 per cent. Young people are
almost three times more likely to be unemployed as adults.

2. Why Youth unemployment is more?
There are various reasons why youth unemployment is high comparably overall unemployment.
Some of the highlighting reasons are:
• Temporary contracts: Their jobs are temporary contracts, youth
are often the first to be laid off when a company downsizes.
• Increased education expectations: Youth are expected to have
more education to compete for jobs than was true for previous
generations. Employers use credentials as a way to evaluate
whether youth applicants are good potential employees, The
increasing amount of time that youth spend education causes
an equivalent rise in the average age when full-time
employment begins.
• Mobility: Youth are often less mobile than older workers. When
the attachment to home is strong and when youth rely on
parents for financial support, they are less able to move
locations to find a job than older workers who can move their
entire family.
Volaility: Today Youth are more volatile than the people of previous generations. They generally do not face the harsh working conditions
of a particular company and regularly switch company in search of better working conditions. This subtracts the experience of a youth in a
particular company and they become more vulnerable to unemployment.
Working Environment: They are not able to stand in the old working environment of various companies that follow old working strategies
and procedures.
Lack Of Capabilities: They do not make innovative use of knowledge, information and opportunities to create new services. Youths don’t
have ability to recognise and act on opportunties and willingness to embrace risk and responsibilities.

3. Causes: Youth Unemployment
• Many young people lack knowledge of what the world of work is actually like, and have not given careful thought to their
own potential career choices. They lack informal networks and connections that are traditionally the major source of
information about job opportunities. And they do not know how to navigate the labour market to identify.
• Even those people who have gain optimum education, lacks the skills needed by the companies. This is partly the fault of
old education system and partly of the youth of not being known. Young people also lack specific skills such as cooperation,
communication, critical thinking, creativity, and a focus on the needs of the enterprise.
• In some labour markets, especially in the developing world, there is simply a demographic mismatch between the number
of young people seeking work and the level of local economic activity. Most available work may be in informal or
underdeveloped industry sectors. As a consequence of these factors, many young people face significant obstacles to
obtaining decent work and thriving in their first jobs
• These days students who did not get job just after graduating, do not want to crack tough nuts instead they go for higher
degree and spend more time in gaining education after which they have knowledge but no experience which makes them
more vulnerable in getting a job. Many who are graduating college expect higher salary with no experience.
• Inflation also plays a great role in youth unemployment as due to inflation the price of the essential commodities increases
which push the youth employed in the metropolitan cities to take financial support from the parents and this make them to
leave the job and come back home.
• The biggest cause of unemployment is often cyclical or demand-deficient unemployment. This is unemployment caused by
the falling output which occurs during the recession. During the 2008 recession, youth unemployment increased at a faster
rate than the actual unemployment rate
• Hysteresis is the idea that past unemployment trends are likely to cause future unemployment. If young people have been
unemployed in the past, it becomes increasingly difficult to get a job. This is because
• Lack of jobs may cause young workers to become demotivated. A lack of past employment may cause firms to be unwilling
to hire in the first place.

4. Sources
Rural
Handicraft
Agriculture
Urban
Increasing Job
Opportunities
FDI
Labor Laws Control
Pacing
Industrialisation
Enhancing Technology
& Research
Education

5. Qualities required in youths as per today's global scenario:
• Thinking critically and making judgments about the barrage of information that comes their way every day
• The ability to recognize and act on opportunities and the willingness to embrace risk and responsibility
• Solving complex, multidisciplinary, open-ended problems that all workers, in every kind of workplace ,encounter routinely
• Communicating and collaborating with teams of people across cultural, geographic and language
• Making innovative use of knowledge, information and opportunities to create new services.
How these qualities can be enhanced
• Major role is of education imparted to youths at school and college level. At primary level various competitions regarding every field should
be conducted and interest of students should be created in art, literature etc.
• Major reforms are needed at village level. So government have to take initiative from rural areas. Teachers working in schools at rural areas
should be given proper training and strictness have to be done regarding their results.
• Private sector can also provide help in this case. With the collaboration of government and private sector various camps, trainings,
competitions can be conducted for the students .In this way interest of students will be created in education and roots of youth will also
become strong.
• At urban level, institutions under government and private sectors are available .Work has to be done to improve their qualities and providing
various equipment.
• Also, youths in urban areas are involved in some anti social activities. So strict rules have to be implemented to prevent the involvement of
youths in activities like smoking, drinking and other illegal activities.
• At college level, institutions should focus on all round development rather than only on studies. From here their skills will develop to face the
cooperate world.
Challenges to be faced in education system:
• Less interest of politicians at rural areas.
• Lack of awareness among people regarding education.
• Properly trained teachers are not available and dedication for child upliftment is missing.
• Funds are not available.
• Students do not want to do hard work.
• Reservation on the basis of caste should be removed so that the quality of the graduates improve.
• Corruption in education system.
Policies:
• Fair teacher selection system to get the quality teachers.
• Special section in the Budget of India for the improvement of quality education.
• Special panel to check the working of the teachers in the Government schools.
• The panel should be free from the influence of the government.
• Admission norms should be fair .
Education:

6. Increasing Job Opportunities
India's national manufacturing policy envisages creation of 100 million jobs in the next decade.
With sliding growth in most of the developed nations, employment opportunities are difficult to come by. Going by the International Labour
Organisation (ILO), more than 75 million youth worldwide are looking for work.
Striking an optimistic note, Kamal Nath said a lot should happen in the next decade and the best time for Asia and India might be there soon.
According to him, investors expect "too much from India" and a even a small dip in growth rate in profits is perceived to be very bad as there
has been very high growth in the past.
Challenges to be faced:
• In an environment of ever-increasing costs of living and non-existent social protection, a young worker in desperation, accept any job with
any conditions that are offered to them.
• The other challenge that young people are facing is insecurity as Regular and continuous forms of employment have been replaced with
non-permanent job contracts.
• The majority of young people have either limited or no skills. Furthermore, the existing education system does not equip them for
employment as it is far from meeting market needs.
• The flow of information on the availability of training and/or job opportunities is tardy.
• There is inefficiency in the working of employment exchange, primarily due to the negligible attention paid to updating and sharing
information.
Policies:
• Government should promote Employment exchanges which play a significant role in assisting young people in finding employment. They
also assist them in starting self-employment ventures through vocational guidance activities.
• Policies should be made to provide employable skills to school leavers, existing workers and IT graduates.
• Policy package should be framed includes a wide range of activities intended to increase labour demand (for example, direct job creation);
to increase the quality of labour supply (training and retraining); or to improve the matching of workers and jobs (job search assistance).
• Transparencies in the government policies like MNREGA,Swarnajayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana (SGSY), Swarna Jayanti Shahari Rozgar
Yojana (SJSRY) and the Prime Minister’s Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP).

7. Agriculture
Agriculture is the basic building block of rural economy. The formal economy is unable to create enough employment opportunities to absorb
this constant supply of labor-seeking youth. Whatever the solution[s] to this multilevel problem, a great deal of coordination and deft thinking
will be required to attract gadget loving and efficiency prone young people into the agricultural sector.
Amongst the most trendy and perhaps viable solutions being touted today is greater youth involvement in rural development through
agriculture.
Challenges:
• Youth consider it as low profile work or not helpful in status building in society.
• More involvement of risk in agriculture sector.
• It is labour intensive and inefficient sector which demotivates youth for it.
• Lack of research work.
• Government is not actively participating in agriculture reforms.
• Income is less.
• More expenses in irrigation, fertilizers etc.
• Seasonal unemployment because crops can’t be grown for whole year in India.
• Loans are not available easily.
Reforms need to be performed:
• Land reforms should be done to increase the fertility of soil.
• Researches should be done so that crops will not get affected by adverse weather conditions and by other reasons. Because if risk will be
there, youths will take least interest in growing crops.
• Along with foodcrops, emphasis has to be done at other plants like medicines ,fibres and also on sericulture ,apiculture and cattle rearing.
This will increase the income, as a result youth will actively participate in this work.
• Youths should be provided information regarding various agriculture techniques and equipments. If modern gadgets are available in
irrigation and agriculture profits will increase and urban migration will decrease.
• Seasonal unemployment among youths is popular in agriculture sector. If such reforms are done so that crops can be grown all over the
year they will not remain unemployed and production capacity will increase.
• Liberalised loan policies are needed to be framed so that money will become easily available and youths can continue their work
• Government should make direct contact with farmers instead of involvement of any broker between farmer and them. By doing so profits
can be increased.
• Students should be given knowledge about agriculture and various course should be started from where youths can get training and can
increase the productivity.

8. Pacing Industrialization
Hurdles:
• Hectic government rules and norms for setting up industry which takes a lot of time and money, because of
which the businessmen in India set up industries in different countries.
• Various clearances required by the Government to set up a industry which requires a lot of time so they put
their legs out of Indian Market.
• Lack of Efficient technology in India.
• Less emphasis on small scale industries.
Reforms:
• Norms for setting up industries should be easy and uninfluential.
• Easy flow of capital from the market.
• Sharing of industrial technology from different countries.
• Equal opportunity to small scale industries in Indian market.
• Strong Transportation network.
• Easy availability of Raw materials.
Technology &
Manufacturing

9. Emphasis on foreign direct investment in Indian economy
Indian economy is lacking belief of foreign investors due to reduced profits and strict policies of government .Due
to this reason, resources which are available in plenty here remain under utilized due to lack of capital. If capital
will be available more employment opportunities will be grown in India for youths.
Reforms to attract foreign investors in India:
• Liberal policies should be made so that foreign investors can come and invest in India
• Government should work jointly with them in favour of country and establish various set ups to utilize
available resources and increase the rate of youth employment.
• India should explore its natural resources to attract foreign companies for efficient resource use.
Enhancing modern technology and research
India has a lot of resources i.e. manual as well as natural. But proper technology is not available here which can
utilize those resources. So Indian economy is unable to create job opportunities
Reforms:
• Modern laboratories should be established for research work, so that new technologies can be implemented
in various sectors. Employment opportunities will increase if profits of industries and agriculture will increase.
• Youth employment opportunities will increase in research work also if proper environment will be provided.
• Brain drain can be prohibited if funds will be given for research work .

10. Labour laws control
Labour laws should be such that they can be easily hired and fired.
Basic problem in developing business in India is strict laws for labour appointment.
Challenge
• During boom and recession period, labour requirement changes accordingly.
During boom period, businessman wants to increase the production and they
appoint more number of workers to increase the profit.
• But during recession, they can’t afford the increased losses due to wages
• Due to strict labour laws, labour mobility is not as per the requirement. So
industrialists does not want to do business in India.
Reforms
• Government should make laws to increase the mobility of labour. If businessmen
will get environment as per their needs, they will increase their investments in
this country and employment opportunities will increase
• Government should also promote self employment programmes so that if labour
force will be fired they can earn their livelihood.

11. Appendix
References:
• Charts taken by economicshelp.org
• Data from tradingeconomics.com From the India ministry of Labour.
• Statistics provided by Manthan Pre-available data.
• Census and Suggestions leading media websites.
• Skills For Employment byInternational Labour Office.
• ILO Asia -Pacific Working Paper Series.