The one demographic characteristic that impacts unemployment is higher education, with rising educational attainment of women contributing to a rising unemployment gap between 2011–12 and 2022–23.
Author
Rahul Menon, Associate Professor, Jindal School of Government and Public Policy, O.P. Jindal Global University, Sonipat, Haryana, India.
Summary
The existence of a positive gender unemployment gap in urban India is examined. Urban Indian women experience higher unemployment rates than men despite lower labour force participation rates, with the gap rising over time.
Regression estimates show the presence of heightened unemployment risks for women even after controlling for demographic characteristics. Differences in demographic characteristics explain little to none of the unemployment gap, speaking to the presence of extensive discrimination in labour markets.
The one demographic characteristic that impacts unemployment is higher education, with rising educational attainment of women contributing to a rising unemployment gap between 2011–12 and 2022–23. The burden of unemployment is faced largely by young, highly educated women, a cohort already experiencing significant constraints in the urban Indian labour market.
Published in: Economic and Political Weekly
To read the full article, please click here.
