Rural youth employment data betray sharp gender disparity

Bengaluru: Over half of young men in the rural parts of the country, aged between 18 and 25 have found employment, but only a quarter of their female counterparts have made it to the job market, according to a report - State of Rural Youth Employment, 2024.

Put together by Development Intelligence Unit (DIU), Transform Rural India (TRI) and Global Development Indicator (GDI), the report, which interviewed 5,169 rural youth (aged 18-35) from 21 Indian states, found that most of the employed were men, while most of those who’d never been gainfully engaged were female.

The story is no different among the “older youth” aged between 26 and 35 years. While 85 per cent of the men were employed and 10 per cent currently unemployed after having worked before, only 40 per cent of the women had jobs, a quarter of them have exited the workforce and a third were never employed.

Emerging preferences

A significant majority of both male (over 60 per cent) and female (over 70 per cent) respondents to the survey preferred to work in or near their village rather than migrate for employment, regardless of income potential.

Agriculture and self-employment/entrepreneurship, which traditionally absorbed rural labour, are not seen as aspirational career paths among the rural youth.

Apart from domain training, the youth are aspiring towards general skills such as IT skills, presentation, and business conversational skills.

Among those aspiring to start small businesses or manufacturing units, most (around 90 per cent men, 50 per cent women) sought support to access seed capital whereas some (8 per cent women, 12 per cent men) felt a requirement for comprehensive training.

Career goals

The vast majority of 70-80 per cent of the youth surveyed expressed a desire to change their jobs. Many showed an inclination to start small manufacturing, retail, or trading ventures.

However, younger women (18-25) showed a preference for securing salaried positions in government roles. They showed a strong preference for teaching roles, followed by clerical positions like accounting and customer-facing jobs at front desks.

This aspiration changed with age, as the older women (26-35) expressed greater interest in self-employment. This could be attributed to the domestic responsibilities that come as women age.

Men seeking employment favoured teaching, accounting/clerical roles, and factory work. These preferences may reflect growing demand for these occupations in rural India and the increasing popularity of gig work.