As millions of young people struggle to find work, the consequences on mental health, social life and national economy are alarming. It’s time for a comprehensive approach to address the root causes of unemployment and support those affected

Unemployment is one of the serious issues and major concerns of the hour because it is exploiting the young generation by influencing their minds and approaches. It is a major concern at this time because, after COVID-19, millions lost their jobs due to lockdown and economic disruption. Meanwhile, labourers, youngsters, and small setups were mainly hit by this pandemic. According to a report from statistics.com, after COVID-19, the number of employed people fell from 3.3 billion to 3.19 billion. Various other reasons have led to fewer job opportunities and a higher risk of unemployment among youngsters.
Unemployment is a term used for those capable individuals who are seeking jobs but are unable to find work. It generally affects young minds because new capable unemployed minds are being destroyed.
However, India has an agrarian economy and more traditional jobs in the cottage industry, such as textiles, handloom, and handicrafts. In the context of the pre-independent era, India had uneven economic conditions, but after the British era ended, India moved towards modern job opportunities, which also resulted in a decrease in these industries and an increase in the unemployment rate. It signifies that after British rule, India faced several economic hurdles. Post-independence, the government of India started planning for economic stability and job opportunities by focusing on the development of the industrial sector through the adoption of ‘Five-Year Plans.’ They started promoting domestically manufactured goods compared to foreign goods, which created market growth but did not generate sufficient employment in the particular sector. As an agrarian country, after independence, the majority of the population remained dependent on agriculture, and for the development of the same sector, the government started the ‘Green Revolution’ in 1960 to improve agriculture and its methods. This revolution also generated more employment in rural areas. However, urbanization also increased the unemployment rate as the majority of the rural population migrated to cities in search of better job opportunities.
Major Causes of Unemployment
There are various causes of unemployment in recent times. Some of them have interesting links to historical context, which were also discussed above:
Economic Downturns: When the economy of any state decreases, it leads to a decrease and low demand for goods production and services, resulting in job cuts.
Inflation: It can also be a reasonable cause for unemployment because when the prices of goods, whether daily needs or occasional goods, increase, it results in a low purchasing rate, leading to less demand for goods manufacturing. A global financial crisis can lead to a reduction in the export of goods.
Lack of Professionalism: Due to insufficient education and training, a person is incapable of working in a particular field. For employment opportunities, companies hire well-knowledgeable professionals. Also, skill mismatch is a concern; sometimes skills do not match between skill holders and hiring companies, which also creates structural unemployment.
Automation: Nowadays, various platforms are using and taking support from digital marketing, which provides speedy responses and results with less expenditure of capital. Due to the use of artificial intelligence and technological enhancement, various people are losing their jobs because it provides fast and low-cost services. For instance, artificial tools like ChatGPT help the print media industry boost their daily marketing without hiring anyone. This has led the printing industry to have more digital work than manual and requires fewer individuals.
Natural Disasters: These can affect employment through various natural conditions such as earthquakes, pandemics, or floods. Due to these natural disasters, the population can lose their jobs, resulting in unemployment.
Social Discrimination: Factors like discrimination based on gender, caste, and race can limit job opportunities in any field. For instance, some Dalits and lower castes do not get job opportunities in upper caste business groups due to the caste system, which was abolished and restricted by the constitution of India. These social discriminations, especially based on caste and gender, should be prohibited as they can lead to a lower employment rate for certain categories.
Seasonal Employment: Various places with tourist resources and certain industries such as agriculture and retail have seasonal demand, leading to seasonal employment and periodic unemployment. For example, the majority of districts in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir fall into the coldest range in winter, preventing people from including ice cream in their daily lifestyle as they do in summer. Similarly, various other seasonal industries create periodic unemployment.
Effects of Unemployment on Young Minds
Unemployment can result in serious damage to mental health and social life as individuals experience economic hardships and financial instability. Due to financial hardships and unemployment, individuals become dependent on their parents’ income and lack skills due to prolonged unemployment. Mental health issues can result from unemployment, creating feelings of frustration and depression and also leading to physical health issues such as obesity. Because of unemployment, further education or vocational training can be affected as it creates a sense of low interest among youngsters.
Risk of Increase in Crime and Substance Abuse
The brain is called the mind, but when the mind becomes irresponsible and independent from all work, it becomes a site of evils and devils. Prolonged unemployment among youngsters develops criminal ideology and lacks mental health balance due to various frustrations regarding employment tensions, increasing the chances of an individual getting addicted to drugs or other addictive narcotic substances. Crimes like kidnapping and rape have become common among the young generation for the sake of money, sometimes due to other social issues. According to studyiq.com, urban areas have a higher crime rate than rural areas. It also denotes that urban areas are moving towards civilization, and development is not generating the proper number of jobs, while rural agriculture and other activities provide necessary backup to youngsters living in villages but offer no options for urban youngsters. Nowadays, the majority of youngsters (especially unemployed and teen students) are involved in drug consumption, and the majority of addicted youngsters cite unemployment as the reason. As they don’t get jobs at the right time, they become patients of various mental disorders, and to bring calmness to their minds, they get addicted to medicines, which further leads to substance abuse. In this manner, drugs, criminal ideology, and other evils become part of society due to the increase in the unemployment rate.
Supportive Measures for Addressing Unemployment
The issue of unemployment can be addressed by applying various measures, some of which are as follows:
Education and Skill Development: Basic education and skill education are very important for the young generation. Skill education is a part of the National Education Policy (22/24). We should make it necessary as it provides support to youngsters by developing skills that will help them in the future. By this, each and every person will have the skills that will help the nation generate more economy and balance the employment rate.
Supporting Small Startups and Medium Entrepreneurship: The government is already supporting small startups by providing loans for starting micro-medium businesses. Pradhan Mantri Rozgar Yojana (PMRY) and Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana Scheme (PMMYS) are great examples of schemes providing support to the young generation for micro-business startups. However, the government should inform people, especially youngsters, about the benefits of small startups and various government schemes. This will help them uphold more small-medium startups among youngsters.
Innovation, Entrepreneurship, and Family Support: We should encourage innovation, its ideas, and the creation of small businesses. By doing this, we can make our young minds productive and employed, also by informing or mentoring them about schemes and loan facilities. Parents should also support their children in situations of unemployment and its mental effects; otherwise, it will be a larger threat to parents. Parents should supervise their routines and conduct proper check-ups on mental health if needed.
The writer advocates for addressing youth issues and can be reached at [email protected]

Ayaan Saroori