Here are the Degrees, Where are the Jobs?

55.6% of Indian youth with graduate degrees and 68% with diploma/certificate are unemployed. These facts are brought out in Labour Bureau’s ‘Report on Employment – Unemployment Survey, 2013-14’.

Of course, like in all good government reports these facts are sought to be hidden with definitional jugglery. 

Using official definitions of labour force and unemployment, the report claims that unemployment rates among the youth (aged 18 to 19) with graduate degrees and those with diploma/certificate are 28% and 22%, respectively.

This is a methodological sleight of hand.

According to the official definition, only those people who are actively seeking work are considered as part of the labour force. By this “definition”, out of the above 27 million total graduate youth aged 18 to 29, only 66% are a part of the labor force. The other44% have either given up looking, or are not actively looking for work.Therefore they are considered as not part of the labour force.

So, the 28% rate of unemployment among graduates, relates to only those who are actively looking for and are unable to find work. What this means is that, if we actually look at the share of unemployed among all the youth with graduate degree or above (not just those who are officially defined as labour force), it would add up to 55.6%

Similarly, out of the 4.3 million diploma/certificate holders aged 18 to 29, the share of unemployed would come to 68%, even though official unemployment rate is only 22%.