Unemployment Situation In India

Published Date: 02 Nov 2017

Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Employment – Unemployment Situation in India: Some Results from NSS Rounds (Since 1983 to 2009-10)

4.1 Background

The National Sample Survey Office (NSSO), as a part of its 66th round survey programme during the period July 2009 - June 2010, carried out an all-India household survey on the subject of employment and unemployment in India. In this survey, the nation-wide enquiry was conducted to generate estimates of various characteristics pertaining to employment, unemployment and labour force characteristics at the national and state levels. Information on various facets of employment and unemployment in India was collected through a schedule of enquiry (Schedule 10) adopting the established concepts, definitions and procedures. Based on the data collected during the entire period of study i.e. since 1980’s, estimates pertaining to employment-unemployment in India along with various characteristics associated with them have been presented in this chapter.

NSSO therefore provides an opportunity to review the changes in size and structure of the workforce and in an unemployment situation in the country through a comparative analysis of the results of earlier large-scale quinquennial surveys. For the level of aggregation, we will consider separately the four segments differentiated by gender and rural-urban location: rural males; rural females; urban males and urban females. We will examine the changes in the size of the workforce, workforce participation rate and the underlying age specific workforce participation rates and changes in the extent of unemployment and underemployment in the country.

4.2 Size of Workforce

For the country as a whole we have in place table 4.1 showing per 1,000 distribution of population by the age groups during different NSS rounds. Age and sex are two important demographic characteristics. The distribution of population by age-group and sex as background information could improve the understanding of the results on employment-unemployment. In table 4.1, the distribution of rural and urban population by 5-year age-groups is presented for males and females separately. Comparable results based on the 50th round (1993-94), 55th round (1999-2000) and 61st round (2004-05) surveys are also presented in this table.

During these five years, excluding the present survey from the last quinquennial one, a shift among the younger groups in the population is visible. A slight decline in the share of youngest age-group (0-4 years) as well as of the children aged 5-9 years in both rural and urban areas are noticeable for all categories of persons.

4.3 Workforce Participation Rate

Table 4.2 presents worker-population ratios (WPRs) for two categories of usual status workers viz. (a) usual principal status workers i.e. workers according to usual status (ps) and (b) usual subsidiary status workers i.e. persons working only in a subsidiary status (ss). In table 4.2, WPRs are presented for the years 1983, 1987-88, 1993-94, 1999-00, 2004-05 and 2009-10 separately for usual principal status (ps) and usual subsidiary status (ss). The two categories together i.e. (ps+ss) constitute the total usually employed (or ‘all’ workers) i.e. workers according to the usual status (ps+ss). The first category pertains to those with more or less stable employment. WPR figures corresponding to ‘all’ workers in table 4.2 show that 55 per cent of the males and 23 per cent of the females were workers. It is also seen from the table that WPR for rural male, from 2004-05 to 2009-10, was only 1 percentage point higher than that for urban male: WPR for rural male being 55 per cent and that for urban male being 54 per cent. But there was a wide gap in the WPR for females in rural and urban areas for the same time period. For rural females this was 26 per cent whereas in urban areas this was 14 per cent. The table 4.2 shows that, in rural areas, WPRs for males in 2009-10 and 2004-05 were same while for females, this was less by about 7 percentage points. The corresponding rates in 2009-10 as compared to 2004-05, were less by 1 percentage point and 3 percentage points respectively, in urban areas.

Table 4.1: Per 1000 distribution of population by five year age groups during 1993-94, 1999-2000, 2004-05 and 2009-10

 

Male

Female

Age Group (years)

50th round (1993-94)

55th round (1999-2000)

61st round (2004-05)

66th round (2009-10)

50th round (1993-94)

55th round (1999-2000)

61st round (2004-05)

66th round (2009-10)

Rural

0-4

129

117

111

93

127

119

110

95

5-9

132

137

126

117

126

129

120

106

10-14

120

128

127

124

107

117

113

111

15-19

102

99

101

109

90

88

91

91

20-24

81

77

80

79

91

86

88

88

25-29

74

75

72

72

85

84

79

84

30-34

68

66

66

70

74

75

79

79

35-39

64

66

68

70

62

67

73

77

40-44

50

54

57

60

52

52

56

61

45-49

45

46

51

54

48

45

48

52

50-54

38

37

38

41

37

36

37

40

55-59

29

28

30

34

32

30

31

35

60 & above

68

70

73

77

69

72

75

81

all

1000

1000

1000

1000

1000

1000

1000

1000

Urban

0-4

105

93

87

77

106

92

85

77

5-9

112

109

96

91

111

109

95

84

10-14

115

116

104

103

114

114

108

93

15-19

112

110

109

107

103

102

98

96

20-24

96

96

103

98

98

94

99

99

25-29

84

85

88

89

90

90

87

94

30-34

77

75

78

80

78

81

83

86

35-39

70

74

75

78

73

78

79

84

40-44

60

66

65

66

54

57

65

64

45-49

50

52

56

60

45

49

55

62

50-54

36

39

42

46

35

36

41

40

55-59

28

27

33

32

29

28

31

35

60 & above

55

58

64

73

64

70

74

86

all

1000

1000

1000

1000

1000

1000

1000

1000

Source: Various Summary Reports of NSS Rounds

Table 4.2: Number of persons employed per 1000 persons (i.e., WFPR) according to usual status during 1983 to 2009-10

 

Category of workers

Usually employed

Rural

Urban

All

Round (year)

male

female

person

male

female

person

male

female

person

66th (2009-10)

Ps

537

202

374

539

119

339

538

180

365

ss only

10

59

34

4

19

11

8

48

27

all (ps+ss)

547

261

408

543

138

350

546

228

392

61st (2004-05)

Ps

535

242

391

541

135

346

536

215

380

ss only

11

85

48

8

31

19

11

72

40

all (ps+ss)

546

327

439

549

166

365

547

287

420

55th (1999-00)

Ps

522

231

380

513

117

324

520

203

365

ss only

9

68

37

5

22

13

7

56

32

all (ps+ss)

531

299

417

518

139

337

527

259

397

50th (1993-94)

Ps

538

234

390

513

121

327

532

206

375

ss only

15

94

54

8

34

20

13

80

45

all (ps+ss)

553

328

444

521

155

347

545

286

420

43rd (1987-88)

Ps

517

245

385

496

118

315

512

217

369

ss only

22

78

49

10

34

22

19

68

43

all (ps+ss)

539

323

434

506

152

337

531

285

412

38th (1983)

Ps

528

248

391

500

120

320

521

218

374

ss only

19

92

54

12

31

20

17

78

46

all (ps+ss)

547

340

445

512

151

340

538

296

420

Source: Various Summary Reports of NSS Rounds

A striking result is the near-stagnation in the number of female workers in the country as a whole and an absolute reduction in the number of women workers in rural India. The above is a consequence of a sharp reduction in the WPRs between 1993-94 and 1999-2000 for both rural and urban women. This decline in WPRs is, however, not confined to women. It is in fact present in each and all the four population-segments. This has an implication that, in every segment, the rate of growth of work force over six-year period will be lower than the rate of growth of population over the same period. Thus, in the country as a whole, while the population is projected to have grown at a little over 1.75 per cent per annum (pcpa) between 1994 and 2000, over the same period, the total (rural plus urban and males plus females) work force would have grown by just 0.81 pcpa. As per the estimates for female workers in 2000, it implies virtually no growth in the aggregate and negative growth for women workers in rural India. Even in urban India, the rate of growth of women workers, at 1.30 pcpa is much lower than the rate of growth of the population of women in urban India which is projected to have grown at 3.05 pcpa.

Following points need to be noted in connection with the decline in the (crude) worker-population ratios noted above.

First, the decline in WPRs are not offset by any significant rise in the ratio of unemployed in the population on the usual status (ps+ss) categorisation. For rural females this ratio is unchanged at 3 per 1,000, while for urban females there is a marginal decline from 10 per 1,000 in 1993-94 to 8 per 1,000 in 1999-2000. Increase in this ratio for rural males (from 8 per 1,000 to 9 per 1,000) and for urban males (from 22 to 24 per 1,000) are also marginal. So that, crude labour force participation rates (WPRs) would also show a decline between 1993-94 and 1999-2000 in all the four population segments. But moving ahead, from 1999-2000 to 2004-05 and further to 2009-10; between 2004-05 and 2009-10, in the rural areas, WPR in usual status approach remained almost the same for males and decreased by about 7 percentage points for females. In urban areas, the rates decreased by about 1 percentage point for males and 3 percentage points for females.

It is seen from the table 4.3 that for ‘all’ workers during year 2009-10, more than two-third of the usually employed were in the age-group of 15 to 44. The proportion of usually employed males in this age bracket is 67 per cent in rural and 71 per cent in urban areas. For the females, the corresponding percentages are 68 and 73. Further, during this period, about one-fifth of the usually employed belonged to the age-group 45-59. The oldest group (i.e. age-group 60 and above) accounted for about 4 to 5 per cent of the usually employed in urban areas. However, in rural areas, about 9 per cent of usually employed males and 7 per cent of usually employed females belonged to this group.

During 1993-94, 1999-2000 and 2004-05, the estimated proportions of the usually employed in the age-groups of 45-59 or 60 & above were broadly the same as those for 2009-10 – for males or females, in either rural or urban areas. This observation holds true for the age-group 15 to 44 considered as a whole. However, for the age-group 15-29, in the rural areas, a small decrease of about 1 percentage point for males and 2 percentage points for females is observed in the proportions between 1993-94 and 1999-2000 as well as between 1999-2000 and 2004-05 but between 2004-05 and 2009-10, there was a decrease of about 3 percentage points for both rural males and females in ‘all workers’ group. In urban areas, in the age group 15-29 years for males and females, a gradual decrease in the rates has been noticed during 1993-94 to 2009-10. On the other hand, for the age-group 30-44, a gradual increase in the proportions between 1993-94 and 2009-10 is observed in both rural and urban areas. Secondly we can say that the observed decline in crude worker-population ratios is not merely due to shifts in the age-structure of the population.

Third, to a significant extent, the reduction in worker-population ratios reflects a beneficial rise in the student-population ratios - not only in the 5-9 and the 10-14 age-groups covering the primary and middle-school system, but also in the 15-19 and the 20-24 age-groups indicating a rising participation in secondary and higher-level education.

4.4 Distribution of Usually Employed by Status of Employment

As per the concepts and definitions, employed persons are categorised into three broad groups according to their status of employment. These broad groups are: (i) self-employed, (ii) regular employees and (iii) casual labour. Table 4.4 shows the per 1000 distribution of usually employed by these broad groups for all-India for both principal status (ps) workers and ‘all’ workers. The table also gives results on the corresponding distribution obtained from the earlier quinquennial surveys. Trends in the proportion (per 1000 workers according to usual status (ps+ss)) for different NSS rounds are presented in Figures 4.1 and 4.2, separately for the rural and urban areas. The discussion below, as before, pertains to ‘all’ workers.

During 2009-10, in rural India, among the usual status (ps+ss) workers (‘all’ workers), about 54 per cent of males and 56 per cent of females were self-employed. The corresponding figures for urban India were 41 per cent for both males and females. Proportion of regular employees was relatively lower among females as compared to males in both rural and urban India. On the other hand, proportion of casual labour was higher among female workers than that among male workers in both rural and urban areas.

Change Over Rounds

For rural males, the proportion of self-employed had fallen from 61 per cent in 1983 to 54 per cent in 2009-10. For rural females, although the proportion of self-employed also showed a gradual fall, for a long period, from 62 per cent in 1983 to 57 per cent in 1999-2000. It showed a rise of 7 percentage points over 1999- 2000 during 2004-05 and then showed a fall of 8 percentage points during 2004-05 and 2009-10. Interestingly, compared to the self-employed, there has been a corresponding rise and fall in the proportion of casual labour over this period. During this period (i.e. from 1983 to 2009-10), though the proportion of regular employed among urban males had fallen by about 2 percentage points, among urban females, there had been an increase in this proportion – by about 13 percentage points.

Table 4.3: Age-Specific WPRs by Location and Gender In India, 1993-94, 1999-2000, 2004-05 and 2009-10 Per 1,000 Workforce Participation Rates on the Usual Status (ps+ss)

Age Group

50th round (1993-94)

55th round (1999-2000)

61st round (2004-05)

66th round (2009-10)

RM

RF

UM

UF

RM

RF

UM

UF

RM

RF

UM

UF

RM

RF

UM

UF

05-09

11

14

5

5

6

7

3

2

3

3

2

2

4

4

1

1

10-14

138

141

66

45

91

96

49

36

68

74

48

36

44

35

28

12

15-19

577

364

356

123

503

304

314

105

497

319

335

105

358

186

231

76

20-24

859

456

674

183

844

409

658

155

849

410

684

155

768

295

617

160

25-29

957

525

904

224

950

491

883

194

966

513

909

194

957

391

906

196

30-34

983

585

964

272

979

555

960

235

981

584

969

235

988

430

973

231

35-39

989

608

983

301

984

579

975

285

989

639

977

285

991

496

984

273

40-44

987

606

981

320

983

586

974

283

983

625

980

283

993

498

984

253

45-49

983

594

973

317

980

566

969

267

981

615

968

267

984

492

977

229

50-54

970

542

942

286

953

515

935

262

963

561

931

262

967

485

946

227

55-59

942

467

856

226

929

450

809

207

930

509

830

207

933

411

848

191

60 & above

699

247

442

113

639

218

402

94

644

253

366

94

646

226

341

70

all

553

328

521

155

531

299

518

139

546

327

549

139

547

261

543

138

Source: Various Summary Reports of NSS Rounds

Table 4.4: Per 1000 distribution of usually employed by category of employment during 1983 to 2009-10

 

Category of Employment

Usual Status (ps)

Usual Status (ps+ss)

Round (year)

Self Employed

Regular/ Wage Salaried Employees

Casual Labour

Self Employed

Regular/ Wage Salaried Employees

Casual Labour

Rural Males

66th (2009-10)

530

87

383

535

85

380

61st (2004-05)

576

91

333

581

90

329

55th (1999-00)

544

90

366

550

88

362

50th (1993-94)

567

87

346

577

85

338

43rd (1987-88)

575

104

321

586

100

314

38th (1983)

595

106

299

605

103

292

Rural Females

66th (2009-10)

503

55

442

557

44

399

61st (2004-05)

564

48

389

637

37

326

55th (1999-00)

500

39

461

573

31

396

50th (1993-94)

513

34

453

586

27

387

43rd (1987-88)

549

49

402

608

37

355

38th (1983)

541

37

422

619

28

353

Urban Males

66th (2009-10)

409

420

171

411

419

170

61st (2004-05)

446

408

146

448

406

146

55th (1999-00)

412

419

169

415

417

168

50th (1993-94)

411

427

162

417

420

163

43rd (1987-88)

410

444

146

417

437

146

38th (1983)

402

445

153

409

437

154

Urban Females

66th (2009-10)

354

444

202

411

393

196

61st (2004-05)

404

422

174

477

356

167

55th (1999-00)

384

385

231

453

333

214

50th (1993-94)

372

355

273

458

284

258

43rd (1987-88)

393

342

265

471

275

254

38th (1983)

373

318

309

458

258

284

Source: Various Summary Reports of NSS Rounds

4.5 WPR for states and union territories during 2009-10

To study the regional disparities in the usual status WPRs, the estimates based on the 66th round results on usual status worker- population ratio in terms of ‘principal status’ and also ‘principal as well as the subsidiary status taken together’ are presented for all the states and union territories in table 4.5 and 4.6 separately for males, females and persons by their rural-urban residency. The discussion below is restricted mostly to figures based on ‘all’ workers (i.e workers according to usual status (ps+ss)).

Rural males: During 2009-10, among the major states, the percentage of usual status

(ps+ss) workers (i.e. ‘all’ workers) among rural males was highest in Karnataka (62 per cent) followed by West Bengal (61 per cent), Andhra Pradesh (60 per cent), Tamil Nadu (60 per cent) and Gujarat (59 per cent). For seven other major states, WPRs were well above the national average of 55 per cent for rural males. The WPR for rural males was lowest in Uttarakhand (46 per cent) preceded by Bihar (48 per cent) and Jharkhand (49 per cent).

Rural females: Among the major states, Himachal Pradesh (47 per cent) reported the highest WPR followed by Andhra Pradesh (44 per cent), Tamil Nadu (41 per cent) and Maharashtra (40 per cent). Bihar (7 per cent) reported the lowest WPR for rural females and was preceded by West Bengal (15 per cent), Assam & Jharkhand (16 per cent each) and Uttar Pradesh (17 per cent). The percentage of female subsidiary status workers was relatively very high in Jammu & Kashmir (23 per cent), Punjab (19 per cent), Rajasthan (14 per cent), Uattarakhand (13 per cent) and Haryana (11 per cent).

Urban males: In urban areas, among the major states, male WPR was higher than 54 per cent (national level WPR) for West Bengal, Karnataka and Maharashtra (58 per cent each), Tamil Nadu, Punjab and Orissa (57 per cent each), Gujarat, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh (56 per cent each) and Kerala (55 per cent).

Urban females: Among the major states, female WPR was higher than 14 per cent (national level WPR) in Tamil Nadu and Kerala (19 per cent each), Andhra Pradesh (18 per cent), Karnataka (17 per cent), Himachal Pradesh and Maharashtra (16 per cent each). The proportion of subsidiary status workers among urban females was relatively higher for Rajasthan, Haryana, Kerala and Uttar Pradesh as compared to other major states.

Table 4.5: Number of persons usually employed in the principal status (ps) and in the principal as well as subsidiary status (all) per 1000 persons for each state

rural

 

Male

Female

Person

States

ps

all (ps+ss)

ps

all (ps+ss)

ps

all (ps+ss)

Andhra Pradesh

594

598

413

443

504

521

Assam

548

553

128

158

351

368

Bihar

478

481

43

65

271

283

Delhi

601

601

28

28

301

301

Gujarat

579

585

247

320

421

459

Haryana

512

522

135

250

338

396

Karnataka

619

624

359

370

489

497

Kerala

550

564

176

218

354

383

Maharashtra

566

576

354

396

463

488

Madhya Pradesh

555

556

266

282

418

426

Orissa

575

578

164

243

370

410

Punjab

525

531

45

240

293

391

Rajasthan

503

510

220

357

365

436

Tamil Nadu

602

603

391

405

493

501

Uttar Pradesh

481

504

90

174

292

344

West Bengal

594

608

91

152

356

392

All India

537

547

202

261

374

408

Source: Various Summary Reports of NSS Rounds

Table 4.6: Number of persons usually employed in the principal status (ps) and in the principal as well as subsidiary status (all) per 1000 persons for each state

urban

 

Male

Female

Person

States

ps

all (ps+ss)

ps

all (ps+ss)

ps

all (ps+ss)

Andhra Pradesh

539

542

167

176

358

364

Assam

522

528

81

93

312

322

Bihar

428

431

28

47

242

252

Delhi

535

535

54

58

331

333

Gujarat

561

563

125

143

361

370

Haryana

552

557

106

130

347

361

Karnataka

575

576

167

170

380

382

Kerala

534

547

171

194

344

363

Maharashtra

569

575

141

159

368

380

Madhya Pradesh

503

503

118

131

319

326

Orissa

568

568

97

119

339

350

Punjab

566

568

81

124

344

365

Rajasthan

507

510

81

120

302

323

Tamil Nadu

568

569

181

191

377

383

Uttar Pradesh

496

501

58

80

287

300

West Bengal

578

584

106

141

350

370

All India

539

543

119

138

339

350

Source: Various Summary Reports of NSS Rounds

4.6 Usually employed by category of employment for different states

Rural areas: In rural areas, self-employment was the major activity of the households in many of the major states. Among the major states, the proportion of self-employed households was highest in Assam (66 per cent), followed by Rajasthan (65 per cent) and Uttar Pradesh (61 per cent).

Urban areas: Regular wage or salaried employment was the main activity of urban households in most of the major states. About 52 per cent of the urban households in Maharashtra were found to depend on regular wage/salaried employment followed by Haryana (50 per cent), Jammu & Kashmir (44 per cent), Gujarat (43 per cent), Punjab and Himachal Pradesh (42 per cent each) and Assam (41 per cent). In urban areas, among the major states, the percentage of self-employed households was higher in Bihar (50 per cent), Uttar Pradesh (44 per cent), and Rajasthan (41 per cent) than that in other major states. The percentage of casual labour households was much higher in Kerala (25 per cent) and Tamil Nadu (23 per cent) than that in other major states.

Table 4.7: Per 1000 distribution of usually employed by category of employment for different states

 

Category of Employment

Usual Status (ps)

Usual Status (ps+ss)

States

Self Employed

Regular/ Wage Salaried Employees

Casual Labour

Self Employed

Regular/ Wage Salaried Employees

Casual Labour

 

61st

66th

61st

66th

61st

66th

61st

66th

61st

66th

61st

66th

Rural Male

Andhra Pradesh

269

418

59

94

286

488

272

419

60

93

287

488

Assam

395

715

64

92

95

193

403

718

65

91

96

191

Bihar

257

519

19

33

195

448

263

520

19

33

196

447

Delhi

178

81

312

620

25

299

178

81

312

620

25

299

Gujarat

309

526

76

89

211

386

314

531

76

88

212

382

Haryana

281

543

71

204

136

253

288

549

72

200

138

251

Karnataka

287

480

46

69

267

451

290

484

46

69

269

447

Kerala

196

380

90

180

244

440

216

388

91

176

249

435

Maharashtra

289

479

71

104

220

417

296

479

72

102

225

419

Madhya Pradesh

316

553

26

60

205

388

319

553

26

60

206

387

Orissa

325

558

37

72

219

370

331

559

37

71

220

369

Punjab

266

480

96

137

183

383

270

484

96

136

184

380

Rajasthan

331

675

48

85

115

241

336

677

49

84

116

239

Tamil Nadu

217

333

84

122

294

545

218

332

85

122

295

545

Uttar Pradesh

323

657

31

55

123

287

337

668

31

53

124

279

West Bengal

260

450

43

85

274

466

270

452

44

83

276

464

All India

295

530

50

87

193

383

303

535

50

85

194

380

Source: Various Summary Reports of NSS Rounds

Table 4.8: Per 1000 distribution of usually employed by category of employment for different states

 

Category of Employment

Usual Status (ps)

Usual Status (ps+ss)

States

Self Employed

Regular/ Wage Salaried Employees

Casual Labour

Self Employed

Regular/ Wage Salaried Employees

Casual Labour

 

61st

66th

61st

66th

61st

66th

61st

66th

61st

66th

61st

66th

Rural Female

Andhra Pradesh

168

388

14

39

244

573

193

395

15

37

263

569

Assam

50

590

17

133

33

277

98

653

17

108

38

239

Bihar

42

412

2

40

54

548

67

479

3

26

79

495

Delhi

4

0

20

131

5

879

4

0

20

131

5

879

Gujarat

117

571

8

29

118

400

216

598

9

25

134

377

Haryana

112

732

8

130

14

137

223

754

9

71

46

175

Karnataka

166

415

15

58

196

527

180

428

15

56

197

516

Kerala

58

341

49

285

64

374

100

421

52

238

70

342

Maharashtra

164

465

13

20

201

515

208

499

13

18

215

483

Madhya Pradesh

130

486

5

18

139

496

159

496

5

17

156

487

Orissa

90

468

5

55

91

477

170

554

6

43

118

404

Punjab

23

278

16

388

17

333

193

811

16

77

28

112

Rajasthan

202

789

7

29

38

181

313

713

7

19

51

268

Tamil Nadu

142

338

29

65

203

597

150

333

29

66

209

601

Uttar Pradesh

65

710

4

49

27

240

147

782

4

26

39

192

West Bengal

29

437

17

136

41

427

72

509

18

89

56

403

All India

110

503

12

55

95

442

168

557

12

44

109

399

Source: Various Summary Reports of NSS Rounds

Table 4.9: Per 1000 distribution of usually employed by category of employment for different states

 

Category of Employment

Usual Status (ps)

Usual Status (ps+ss)

States

Self Employed

Regular/ Wage Salaried Employees

Casual Labour

Self Employed

Regular/ Wage Salaried Employees

Casual Labour

 

61st

66th

61st

66th

61st

66th

61st

66th

61st

66th

61st

66th

Urban Male

Andhra Pradesh

220

384

238

482

106

170

221

350

239

480

106

170

Assam

284

486

225

454

30

60

285

490

226

450

30

60

Bihar

281

625

120

216

62

159

283

628

120

215

63

157

Delhi

235

449

285

530

34

22

235

449

286

530

34

22

Gujarat

232

445

277

417

82

138

234

445

277

417

82

138

Haryana

223

353

269

520

38

127

223

355

269

518

38

126

Karnataka

218

395

263

393

116

212

218

395

263

393

116

212

Kerala

196

334

166

293

201

373

204

345

168

288

205

367

Maharashtra

204

324

289

557

70

120

206

329

290

552

70

119

Madhya Pradesh

255

460

178

344

86

196

258

460

178

344

86

196

Orissa

233

405

230

389

73

206

238

405

231

389

73

206

Punjab

278

413

255

422

60

165

279

414

255

421

60

165

Rajasthan

275

466

177

373

64

160

279

468

178

371

66

161

Tamil Nadu

202

311

251

421

141

268

203

310

252

423

143

267

Uttar Pradesh

266

515

167

310

67

175

270

518

167

308

67

174

West Bengal

263

470

236

374

86

156

269

473

237

371

88

156

All India

234

409

232

420

85

171

236

411

232

419

85

170

Source: Various Summary Reports of NSS Rounds

Table 4.10: Per 1000 distribution of usually employed by category of employment for different states

 

Category of Employment

Usual Status (ps)

Usual Status (ps+ss)

States

Self Employed

Regular/ Wage Salaried Employees

Casual Labour

Self Employed

Regular/ Wage Salaried Employees

Casual Labour

 

61st

66th

61st

66th

61st

66th

61st

66th

61st

66th

61st

66th

Urban Female

Andhra Pradesh

63

399

63

363

41

239

77

422

66

345

46

233

Assam

34

476

38

368

8

155

41

488

38

367

8

146

Bihar

24

478

14

391

11

130

39

474

15

237

14

289

Delhi

10

176

37

824

3

0

12

212

37

788

3

0

Gujarat

34

306

37

446

28

248

61

346

39

393

31

261

Haryana

48

334

67

556

6

110

68

395

69

484

12

121

Karnataka

44

332

87

405

40

263

50

341

88

399

40

260

Kerala

43

266

74

538

25

196

72

329

77

482

29

190

Maharashtra

40

299

60

565

24

136

51

357

63

514

28

128

Madhya Pradesh

63

408

30

379

24

212

72

447

30

348

28

205

Orissa

38

380

48

274

16

346

58

439

51

223

23

338

Punjab

20

236

59

656

6

109

37

439

61

463

6

98

Rajasthan

45

442

30

458

11

101

65

567

33

318

15

115

Tamil Nadu

67

354

75

339

67

308

72

372

75

326

69

302

Uttar Pradesh

29

520

21

366

4

115

54

613

21

266

5

121

West Bengal

34

417

59

458

12

125

66

516

61

362

16

121

All India

42

354

51

444

25

202

58

411

52

393

27

196

Source: Various Summary Reports of NSS Rounds

4.7 Unemployment Rates

Unemployment rate (UR) is defined as the number of persons unemployed per thousand persons in the labour force (which includes both the employed and the unemployed). This, in effect, gives the unutilised portion of the labour force. Thus, it is a more refined indicator of the unemployment situation in a population than the proportion unemployed (PU), which is merely the number of the unemployed per thousand persons in the population as a whole.

4.7.1 Unemployment rates during 2009-2010

Table 4.11 presents the unemployment rates (UR) as obtained from the present survey according to three approaches. Some of the important points emerging from this statement are:

The unemployment rates in urban areas are higher than those in rural areas in all the approaches of measurement except for males in urban areas in current daily status (cds), which is lower than the unemployment rates for males in rural areas measured in cds;

The unemployment rates for females are higher than those for males, and highest among urban females;

The unemployment rates according to the current daily status (cds) approach are higher than the rates obtained according to ‘usual status’ approach and ‘weekly status’ approach, thereby indicating a high degree of intermittent unemployment.

The unemployment rate, measured through usual status (ps) or through usual status (adjusted) is very low the rural areas.

In the usual status (adjusted), unemployment rate for both males and females in rural areas was about 2 per cent, while in urban areas female unemployment rate was 6 per cent compared to 3 per cent for males.

The unemployment rates obtained in usual principal status and usual status (adjusted) remained almost at the same level except for urban females for whom unemployment rate in the usual status (adjusted) was nearly 1 percentage point lower compared to that obtained in usual status (ps).

In current weekly status, unemployment rate in urban areas was 7 per cent for females and 4 per cent for males while in rural areas unemployment rates for females and males were 4 per cent and 3 per cent respectively.

In current daily status approach, unemployment rate for urban females was highest (9 per cent) and for rural females it was 8 per cent. For males in urban areas unemployment rate in cds was 5 per cent compared to 6 per cent for rural males.

Table 4.11: Unemployment rates (per 1000 persons in the labour force) according to usual status, current weekly status (cws) and current daily status (cds) from 1983 to 2009-10

 

Unemployment Rate

Male

Female

Round (year)

Usual Status (ps)

us (adj.)

cws

cds

Usual Status (ps)

us (adj.)

cws

Cds

Rural

66th (2009-10)

19

16

32

64

24

16

37

80

61st (2004-05)

21

16

38

80

31

18

42

87

55th (1999-00)

21

17

39

72

15

10

37

70

50th (1993-94)

20

14

31

56

13

9

29

56

43rd (1987-88)

28

18

42

46

35

24

44

67

38th (1983)

21

14

37

75

14

7

43

90

Urban

66th (2009-10)

30

28

36

51

70

57

72

91

61st (2004-05)

44

38

52

75

91

69

90

116

55th (1999-00)

48

45

56

73

71

57

73

94

50th (1993-94)

54

41

52

67

83

61

79

104

43rd (1987-88)

61

52

66

88

85

62

92

120

38th (1983)

59

51

67

92

69

49

75

110

Source: Various Summary Reports of NSS Rounds

4.7.2 Unemployment rates over NSS rounds

Table 4.11 gives the unemployment rates as obtained from the six quinquennial surveys of NSSO. In Figure 4.3, the unemployment rates according to usual status (adjusted) for six quinquennial rounds have been presented. The statement shows that compared to 2004-05, in 2009-10, the unemployment rate in usual principal status, remained almost the same for rural males (nearly 2 per cent), but decreased by 1 percentage points for rural females (from 3 per cent in 2004-05 to 2 per cent in 2009-10), while in urban areas, male unemployment rate decreased from 4 per cent to 3 per cent and for females it decreased from 9 per cent to 7 per cent. During this period, the unemployment rate in terms of the usual status (adjusted), remained almost the same for rural males and females (2 per cent) while in urban areas, male unemployment rate decreased from 4 per cent in 2004-05 to 3 per cent in 2009-10 and for females the decrease in unemployment rate was from 7 per cent to 6 per cent. In current weekly status, during the period 2004-05 and 2009-10, the unemployment rate for rural males decreased from 4 per cent to 3 per cent while for rural females it was invariant at 4 per cent, and in urban areas, the male unemployment rate decreased from 5 per cent to 4 per cent while for females the decrease was from 9 per cent to 7 per cent. In current daily status, during the period 2004-05 and 2009-10, reduction in unemployment rate was observed for all the four segments of population: for rural male it decreased from 8 per cent to 6 per cent, for rural females it decreased from 9 per cent to 8 per cent, for urban males the decrease was from 8 per cent to 5 per cent and for urban females the decrease was from 12 per cent to 9 per cent.

4.8 Underemployment

Underemployment is commonly defined as the under-utilisation of labour time of the workers. Some of the persons categorised as usually employed, do not have work throughout the year due to seasonality in work or otherwise and their labour time is not fully utilised - they are, therefore, underemployed. Their underemployment is termed visible underemployment if they report themselves to be not working with respect to a shorter reference period. The NSS measures the visible underemployment by cross classifying persons by (a) their usual and current weekly statuses (b) their usual and current daily statuses and (c) their current weekly and current daily statuses.

4.8.1 Underemployment among the Usually Employed

As mentioned earlier, some persons categorised as usually employed might not have work throughout the year. They might remain without work during some weeks of the year or go without work on some days of the different weeks of the year. The first dimension is brought out by the distribution of the usually employed by their current weekly status. Table 4.12 gives relevant all-India results for ‘all’ usually employed persons (i.e., usually employed according to usual status (ps+ss)) for NSS 66th round (2009-10). Corresponding results based on the 50th (1993-94), 55th (1999-2000) and NSS 61st (2004-05) rounds are also presented in the statement.

It is seen from table 4.12 that the underemployment rate defined as the proportion of usually employed who were found to be not employed (i.e. reporting either unemployed or not in labour force) during the week preceding the date of survey, had been stable for males between 1993-94 and 2004-05 at nearly 4 per cent in rural areas and 2 per cent in urban areas, which dropped by 1 percentage point each in both rural and urban areas in 2009-10. The underemployment rate for rural females was 15 percent in 2009-10, which was nearly 2 percentage points lower than to that of either 1999-2000 or 2004-05 and 4 percentage points lower than that of 1993-94. Among urban females, the underemployment rate, which was found to be 6 per cent in 2009-10, decreased by about 3 percentage points compared to that found in 2004-05. Compared to the period 1993-94, the underemployment rate among urban females decreased by nearly 6 percentage points in 2009-10. It is seen that, the problem of underemployment was more severe among usually employed females than among employed males, and more in rural than in urban areas. During 2009-10, the underemployment among usually employed females was 15 per cent in rural India and nearly 6 per cent in urban India, while the corresponding figures for usually employed males were 3 per cent and 1 per cent in rural and urban areas, respectively. It is, moreover, seen that most of the usually employed females who were currently not working had withdrawn themselves from the labour force and did not report themselves as currently unemployed. The distributions for the different states and union territories obtained from the present survey are given in table 4.12.

Table 4.12: Per 1000 distribution of usually employed (principal and subsidiary status taken together) by their broad current weekly status during 1993-94, 1999-2000, 2004-2005 and 2009-10

All India

 

Male

Female

Current Weekly Status

50th round (1993-94)

55th round (1999-2000)

61st round (2004-05)

66th round (2009-10)

50th round (1993-94)

55th round (1999-2000)

61st round (2004-05)

66th round (2009-10)

Rural

Employed

957

956

958

968

807

832

833

847

Unemployed

15

22

22

15

14

20

20

15

Not in Labour Force

28

22

21

17

179

148

147

138

All

1000

1000

1001

1000

1000

1000

1000

1000

Urban

Employed

977

977

977

987

884

900

914

939

Unemployed

11

11

14

8

9

9

15

11

Not in Labour Force

12

12

9

5

107

91

71

50

All

1000

1000

1000

1000

1000

1000

1000

1000

Source: Various Summary Reports of NSS Rounds

4.9 Summary

Some of the key summarizing issues can be stated as follows:

Labour Force

During the period 2004-05 to 2009-10, the labour force participation rates (LFPRs) according to usual status (ps+ss) remained almost the same for rural males but decreased by about 6 percentage points for rural females. During that period, LFPRs according to usual status (ps+ss) decreased by about 1 percentage point for the urban males and decreased by about 3 percentage points for the urban females.

Work Force

Between 2004-05 and 2009-10, in the rural areas, WPR in the usual status approach remained almost the same for the males and decreased by about 7 percentage points for the females. In the urban areas, the rates decreased by about 1 percentage point for males and 3 percentage points for females.

Unemployment Rate

During the period 2004-05 and 2009-10, the unemployment rate in terms of usual status (ps+ss), remained almost the same for rural males and decreased by 1 percentage point for urban males. For rural females also it remained almost the same whereas for urban females it decreased by 1 percentage point.

Underemployment

Underemployment rate were found to be stable for males between 1993-94 and 2004-05 at nearly 4 per cent in rural areas and 2 per cent in urban areas, which dropped by 1 percentage point each in both rural and urban areas in 2009-10. For rural females, it was 15 percent in 2009-10, which was nearly 2 percentage points lower than to that of either 1999-2000 or 2004-05 and 4 percentage points lower than that of 1993-94. Among urban females, the underemployment rate, which was found to be 6 per cent in 2009-10, decreased by about 3 percentage points compared to that found in 2004-05. Compared to the period 1993-94, the underemployment rate among urban females decreased by nearly 6 percentage points in 2009-10.