The Indian labour market: An overview
The present study analyses the labour market situation in India over the last two decades. Given the growth profile, which has been quite robust in recent years, one pertinent question is whether India has experienced pro-poor growth.
Robust economic growth has not been translated into employment growth and the poverty level continues to decline at a very slow pace. Therefore, it seems that the economic growth has not been generating pro-poor employment opportunities per se. While there has been rapid growth in some dynamic sectors, which have generated employment opportunities, those sectors are restricted to specific skills obtained by only a few.
This paper discusses the economic growth, employment, and the poverty scenario in the last two decades. The paper examines the trends in work participation rates for women and men in rural and urban areas.
Over the years in India, the value added composition has shifted away from agriculture, but the structure of the workforce is still dominated by agriculture. The shift in employment away from agriculture has been marginal. However, the shift has not been towards manufacturing, it has been largely towards the services sector. It has been observed that there has been a major shift towards self-employment during 2004-05, particularly among women. The late 1990s witnessed an increase in casualization of the workforce. The fall in casual workers in the recent period, along with the increase in self-employment, poses the question whether the shift towards self-employment is for better remuneration or whether it is a compulsion to engage oneself in any kind of activity in the absence of wage work. It has been observed that own account workers comprise the majority of the informal workers in rural areas. The urban areas, however, show an almost equal distribution of workers across own account enterprises and establishments.
This paper discusses the economic growth, employment, and the poverty scenario in the last two decades. The paper examines the trends in work participation rates for women and men in rural and urban areas.
Over the years in India, the value added composition has shifted away from agriculture, but the structure of the workforce is still dominated by agriculture. The shift in employment away from agriculture has been marginal. However, the shift has not been towards manufacturing, it has been largely towards the services sector. It has been observed that there has been a major shift towards self-employment during 2004-05, particularly among women. The late 1990s witnessed an increase in casualization of the workforce. The fall in casual workers in the recent period, along with the increase in self-employment, poses the question whether the shift towards self-employment is for better remuneration or whether it is a compulsion to engage oneself in any kind of activity in the absence of wage work. It has been observed that own account workers comprise the majority of the informal workers in rural areas. The urban areas, however, show an almost equal distribution of workers across own account enterprises and establishments.