Kerala 2005 - of Planning Commission

CHAPTER 7
RECKONING CAUTION: EDUCATED UNEMPLOYMENT AND GENDER UNFREEDOM
109
A third dimension was added in terms of production
or productivity. This was intended to take care of
situations where income may increase but without a
corresponding increase in production or productivity
(e.g. salaries of Government employees). While this
aspect is not without significance, it is the ‘recognition’
dimension of unemployment put forward by Amartya
Sen that has particular importance for Kerala. The
recognition aspect refers to the phenomenon of people
having a job but nevertheless regarding themselves as
‘unemployed’. This arises from perception of lack of
adequacy and self-fulfilment from current employment.
The 2003 survey sought to capture this phenomenon,
believed to be fairly widespread in the Kerala context.
2.8 Time Dimension
The time dimension of unemployment is sought to
be captured in India through the NSSO survey. Here
again, multiple measures have emerged because
of the awareness of the importance attached to the
intensity of unemployment. 6 The most intense form of
unemployment is referred to as ‘chronic unemployment'
– defined as 183 or more days spent without work in
the year preceding the survey period. Table 7.9 shows
that according to this measure, the incidence of overall
unemployment in Kerala has been over four times the
national average for the last 25 years or so. Different
aspects of the time dimension by gender, youth, level of
education and spatial are examined here.
2.9 Gender and Unemployment
If a single fact were to convey the intensity of the problem
of unemployment in Kerala, it is that unemployment among
women is two to three times higher than among men. And
while educated unemployment has declined for all men in
the 1990s, it has increased for women, particularly in rural
areas. In the urban areas, where it is the highest, female
educated unemployment is 34 per cent in contrast to
7 per cent for men (Table 7.10). While spatial difference
was muted in comparison to that of gender, in general,
urban unemployment exceeded rural though there was
some signs of a reversal of this trend in the case of men.
In contrast to Kerala, at the all-India level, the spatial
difference was more pronounced than the gender
difference. In fact, in the case of rural areas, incidence
of unemployment among women was lower than that of
Table 7.10: Unemployment Rates for the Educated
(15 years & above)
Kerala
All-India
1993-94 1999-00 1993-94 1999-00
Usual Principal and Subsidiary Status
Rural Male 15.6 11.2 6.5 5.6
Rural Female 32.3 36.7 15.0 14.6
Urban Male 11.2 7.4 6.0 6.2
Urban
Female
34.9 34.2 18.2 14.3
Usual Principal Status
Rural Male 18.5 15.0 8.8 6.8
Rural Female 49.6 49.1 24.9 20.4
Urban Male 12.6 9.9 6.9 6.6
Urban
Female
40.6 41.9 20.6 16.3
Source: 1987-88: Sarvekshana, September 1990; 1993-94: Sarvekshana, July-September
1996; 1999-00: “Employment and Unemployment Situation in India”, 1999-2000,
Report No. 458,NSS 55th Round, NSSO, Government of India, May 2001
Sarvekshana.
Table 7.9: Incidence of Various Measures of Unemployment
Year Kerala All India Kerala All India Kerala All India
Chronic Unemployment (UPS) Seasonal Unemployment (CWS) Seasonal Unemployment (CDS)
1977-78 19.8 5.5 12.7 4.9 25.7 8.9
1983 13.1 2.9 15.4 4.7 25.9 8.7
1987-88 17.1 4.2 17.6 5.2 21.2 6.8
1993-94 10.1 2.6 9.7 6.0 15.5 6.0
1999-00 11.4 2.7 12.7 4.3 21.0 7.3
Source: 1987-88: Sarvekshana, September 1990; 1993-94: Sarvekshana, July-September 1996; 1999-00: “Employment and Unemployment Situation in India”, 1999-2000,
Report No. 458,NSS 55th Round, NSSO, Government of India, May 2001 Sarvekshana.
6 The National Sample Survey reports mainly three measures of unemployment. According to the Usual Principal Status (UPS),
the reference period is 365 days preceding the date of survey. If a person is unemployment for a major period, he/she is
unemployed by UPS. Another measure is based on Current Weekly Status (CWS). As per this measure, if a person did not find
work even for one hour in any day previous to the seven-day period, he/she is unemployed. The third measure is based on
Current Daily Status (CDS) wherein each day of the previous seven days is classified as working or not working based on one
to four hours as half day and more than four hours as full day.