A man willing to work, and unable to find work, is perhaps the saddest sight that fortune's inequality exhibits under the sun.
" miou take my life when you take the means whereby I live. " These observations by Thomas Carlyle and William Shakespeare respectively reflect what youth unemployment means to me. As I reflect on youth unemployment, several thoughts and examples cross my mind. Here are a few: Almost every week one reads in newspapers in India, my country, about farmers committing suicide due to a high level of indebtedness on the one hand and lack of farm unemployment on the other.Many are in their youth.
There was a very touching story about a young man who lost his Job due to the global meltdown. He did not have the heart to tell his family, friends or neighbors about the sad development. He would therefore, leave his home everyday at the normal time in the morning with his brief case, spend the day in a garden and return in the evening. There is an increasing number of young patients visiting psychiatrists for clinical depression caused by unemployment.
In recent times, many college graduates have volunteered to work absolutely free in private companies. Their objective, in the absence of a paying Job, is to get some experience and add to their resumes so that when the opportunities of paying Jobs arise, they have a better chance than others. Youth unemployment is an area of very serious concern to South Asia, India (which is the largest country in South Asia) and to me and my generation. The impact of unemployment among the young is described here in the first part of this essay.GDP Impact: It is an established economic reality that the size of the workforce directly impacts a countrys GDP. Not only does the work force produce manufactured goods r services or agricultural produce in direct proportion, but also brings in its wake increasing purchasing power, which in turn, fuels economic growth.
Thus unemployment contributes to a reduction in the potential which exists in spurring a countrys GDP. Psychological effect: George Bernard Shaw wrote, "A man who has no office to go to- I don't care who he is- is a trial of which you can have no conception. Young men and women, who have put in a decade or two in schools and colleges, have dreams and aspirations. These are dreams of securing satisfying Jobs following heir years of struggle, meeting basic necessities of life (food, clothing, shelter and healthcare), graduating to a life of comfort and dignity and, eventually, enjoying the luxuries of life. The trauma of seeing their dreams shattered week after week, month after month, can and does lead to deep psychological scars that are very difficult to face at such a young age.These can impact any individual's self esteem and can lead to clinical depression, as "mind unemployed is mind un-Joyed".
(Christian Nevell Bovee) Family security net, very often a family depends on a son or a daughter graduating from chool or college to take up employment in order to support the entire family. When that does not happen, the financial woes are unimaginably sorrowful. Social impact: With growing youth unemployment, the divide between the rich and the poor grows, resulting in social tensions which could affect the entire fabric of a community, province or community.Law and order: It has been established that educated unemployed are likely to take to crime- blue collar or white collar crimes- more easily than others. This arises out of the theory that they would have, at some stage of their areers, seen good life, even from a distance, and formed their dreams based thereon.
When they fail to see these dreams turn into reality, some turn to crime. Social Ills: Youth unemployment also leads to other social ills such as addiction to alcoholism, tobacco and harmful drugs, battering of wives and children. These are the outlets to vent frustration caused by unemployment.Effect on health: It is equally easy to visualize that lack of steady income could, apart from the above ills, also lead to inadequate nutrition and adversely affect health of the youth and their families. Political instability: When unemployment grows in a community, dissatisfaction with the incumbent Government follows. This, in turn, leads to frequent changes in Governments or formation of unsteady coalitions.
Neither is healthy for long term stable economic policies and this situation could lead to a vicious circle of political changes. As President Franklin D.Roosevelt had stated, "Not only our future economic soundness but the very soundness of our democratic institutions depends on the determination of our government to give employment to idle men. " Youth unemployment (as also underemployment) therefore means to me, "the saddest sight hat fortune's inequality exhibits under the sun", as stated at the beginning of this essay.
Causes: Before discussing my solution and approach to reduce youth unemployment and under employment, it is necessary to explain the causes which have led to such an alarming situation in India in particular and globally in general.The growth in population has obviously outpaced the creation of new Job opportunities. While countries such as India and China are now growing at close to or above double digit fgures annually, this was not the case in the not-too-distant past, hen growth rates of the economies and of the population were both comparable, at around 3% per annum. This is still the case in some countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. Moreover, it is necessary to realize that the growth rates for new Jobs are much lower than the GDP rates for a variety of reasons.GDP growth is driven by growth in Agriculture, Manufacturing and Services.
Developing countries, such as India and China, have shifted their growth focus from Agriculture (which has the highest Job creation potential) to Manufacturing and now to Services. While this leads to mpressive growth rates in GDP, Job creation lags behind. Another reason for the mismatch between growth in GDP and in unemployment opportunities is increased focus on automation. While some Governments in developing countries do prefer automation, especially if the economic trade off is in its favor.Growing concern about labor productivity, accuracy, speed, responsibility, quality, consistency, labor unrest and indiscipline began the march towards automation. This was further accentuated by growth in sizes.
For example, farms of one acre in size were not ideal for tractors and hence used men and animals. However, as farm sizes grew, tractors took their place, displacing both. Similar is the case of robotics in the manufacture of cars or air conditioners or other appliances. This shift in technology has been detrimental to creation of Job opportunities.
