Young Indians without Jobs Miss out on Growing Economy

Young Indians without Jobs Miss out on Growing Economy

Recent studies say India is soon to be the most populous¹ country in the world, with about 1.4 billion people.

More than half of India's population is under the age of 30. That means India has hundreds of millions of working-age people.

Financial experts note that the country's economy is growing quickly. However, many young Indians are missing out on the growth because they do not have jobs.

Rafiq Nagar is an extremely poor area of Mumbai. About 800,000 people live there in poor conditions. Among them is 23-year-old Nizamudin Abdul Rahim Khan. He struggles to find work. He spends his time playing cricket² on the street. Khan said he earns about $122 each month by working as a laborer³ for home repairs or construction.

Naseem Jafar Ali works for a nonprofit organization in Mumbai. He said Khan is not the only young person who wants to work but cannot find a job.

During the first part of the COVID-19 pandemic, the unemployment rate in India's cities rose above 20 percent.

While the rate has gone down recently, many full-time⁴ jobs have not returned. As a result, more people are doing casual work. That means they are not working full time or every day.

While India's economy is growing, experts say the country will not reach its potential if such large numbers of people struggle to get work.

Radhicka Kapoor studies unemployment for the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations. She said people who are officially unemployed⁵ are "only the tip of the iceberg⁶." She said a larger problem is underemployment and those who are unemployed but not correctly counted. She called it "disguised⁷ unemployment."

Khan said he helps his family with the money he makes. But he wants to be able to do more. He said, "if I get a permanent job, then there will be no problem."

Jayati Ghosh is an economist⁸ who is concerned about young people missing out on the country's growth. She said there are a lot of young people whose families spent money on their education. But those people still cannot find work. "That's horrifying⁹," she said. "It's not just the question of potential loss to the economy ... it is a lost generation."

Ghosh said the fall of small businesses has been the biggest problem in India. She called it a "collapse¹⁰."

Ghosh said recent government policies hurt small businesses, and so did the pandemic. The government said over 10,000 small businesses closed between April 2022 and March 2023. A year earlier, 6,000 such businesses closed.

As a result, many people who would have worked for these small businesses in past years are now on their own. But self-employed people only earn about $178 per month. People working for businesses make about $212 per month.

The problem is more severe in India's major cities. There are 150 million working-age people in cities, but less than half have jobs. In recent years, many young people have come to cities from rural areas in search of work.

Even people who have an education and job experience cannot find work. Arshad Ali Ansari is a 22-year-old student. He lives in the same neighborhood as Khan, the young man who passes time playing cricket. Ansari talked about his brother, who lost his job at a bank during the pandemic. Now he helps his father paint houses. The family of eight lives in a small room. They live on about $240 per month.

"My brother had an education, he had experience," Ansari said. His sister lost her job, too. She was a social worker. She does not think she will find another job.

Pranjul Bhandari is an economist for the banking¹¹ company HSBC. He recently wrote a report about India's jobs problem. He said the nation will need to create 70 million new jobs over the next 10 years. However, the country is only set to create 24 million new jobs. That, he said, means 46 million people will miss out on earnings¹².

Words in This Story

construction –n. the work of building things

rate –n. the count of something happening (or not happening) over a period of time

potential –n. a person's or group's ability to become successful

tip of the iceberg –phrase. only the visible part of a deeper problem

disguised –adj. something that is hidden or not easily seen

horrifying –adj. something scary or surprising

collapse –adj. something that fell apart quickly or without warning

social worker –n. a person who helps families and people with problems

1 populous   

adj.人口稠密的，人口众多的

参考例句：

• London is the most populous area of Britain.伦敦是英国人口最稠密的地区。
• China is the most populous developing country in the world.中国是世界上人口最多的发展中国家。

2 cricket   

n.蟋蟀，板球运动；adj.公平的

参考例句：

• The England cricket team scored quite a useful total.英格兰板球队得分总数令人满意。
• We could hear the shrill of the midsummer cricket.我们可以听到仲夏时节蟋蟀的尖叫声。
• Your behaviour isn't cricket.你的行为不光彩。

3 laborer   

n.劳动者，劳工

参考例句：

• Her husband had been a farm laborer.她丈夫以前是个农场雇工。
• He worked as a casual laborer and did not earn much.他当临时工，没有赚多少钱。

4 full-time   

adj.满工作日的或工作周的，全时间的

参考例句：

• A full-time job may be too much for her.全天工作她恐怕吃不消。
• I don't know how she copes with looking after her family and doing a full-time job.既要照顾家庭又要全天工作，我不知道她是如何对付的。

5 unemployed   

adj.失业的，没有工作的；未动用的，闲置的

参考例句：

• There are now over four million unemployed workers in this country.这个国家现有四百万失业人员。
• The unemployed hunger for jobs.失业者渴望得到工作。

6 iceberg   

n.冰山，流冰，冷冰冰的人

参考例句：

• The ship hit an iceberg and went under.船撞上一座冰山而沉没了。
• The glacier calved a large iceberg.冰河崩解而形成一个大冰山。

7 disguised   

v.假扮( disguise的过去式和过去分词 )；化装；伪装；掩盖

参考例句：

• The hijackers were heavily disguised. 劫持者伪装得严严实实。
• The chieftain of that country is disguised as a benefactor this time. 那个国家的首领这一次伪装出一副施恩者的姿态。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 economist   

n.经济学家，经济专家，节俭的人

参考例句：

• He cast a professional economist's eyes on the problem.他以经济学行家的眼光审视这个问题。
• He's an economist who thinks he knows all the answers.他是个经济学家，自以为什么都懂。

9 horrifying   

a.令人震惊的，使人毛骨悚然的

参考例句：

• He went to great pains to show how horrifying the war was. 他极力指出战争是多么的恐怖。
• The possibility of war is too horrifying to contemplate. 战争的可能性太可怕了，真不堪细想。

10 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

11 banking   

n.银行业，银行学，金融业

参考例句：

• John is launching his son on a career in banking.约翰打算让儿子在银行界谋一个新职位。
• He possesses an extensive knowledge of banking.他具有广博的银行业务知识。

12 earnings   

n.工资收人；利润，利益，所得

参考例句：

• That old man lives on the earnings of his daughter.那个老人靠他女儿的收入维持生活。
• Last year there was a 20% decrease in his earnings.去年他的收入减少了20%。