poverty and unemployment essay

Module 16: Work and the Economy

Poverty and unemployment in the united states, learning outcomes.

• Describe the relationship between poverty, work, and unemployment

Poverty in the United States

When people lose their jobs during a recession or in a changing job market, it takes longer to find a new one, if they can find one at all.  Also, according to (Hicks 2013), those with higher human capital, or years of education, have a much more difficult time finding work. When people do find a job, it is often at a much lower wage or not full time. This can force people into poverty. In the United States, we tend to have what is called relative poverty, defined as being unable to live the lifestyle of the average person in your country. This must be contrasted with the extreme poverty that is frequently found in underdeveloped countries and defined as the inability, or near-inability, to afford basic necessities such as food (Byrns 2011). (You can review more about poverty and differences in terminology in the module on inequality.)  [1]

The Historical U.S. Unemployment Rate

Examining unemployment can help us better understand poverty in the United States. Let’s look at what the unemployment rate is really telling us. The unemployment rate is not the percentage of the total adult population without jobs, but rather the percentage of adults who are in the labor force but who do not have jobs. Even with the “out of the labor force” category, there are still some people that are mislabeled in the categorization of employed, unemployed, or out of the labor force. There are some people who have only part time or temporary jobs and who are looking for full time and permanent employment that are counted as employed, though they are not employed in the way they would like or need to be. Additionally, there are individuals who are underemployed . This includes those that are trained or skilled for one type or level of work who are working in a lower paying job or one that does not utilize their skills. For example, an individual with a college degree in finance who is working as a sales clerk would be conside red underemployed. They are, however, also counted in the employed group. All of these individuals fall under the umbrella of the term “hidden unemployment.” Discouraged workers , those who have stopped looking for employment and, hence, are no longer counted in the unemployed also fall into this group.

Let’s look at how unemployment rates have changed over time and how various groups of people are affected by unemployment differently. Figure 1 shows the historical pattern of U.S. unemployment since 1948. While it clearly fluctuates over time, the unemployment rate seems to return to a range of 4% to 6%. There does not seem to be a long-term trend toward the rate moving generally higher or generally lower.

Figure 1. The U.S. Unemployment Rate, 1948–2016. The U.S. unemployment rate moves up and down as the economy moves in and out of recessions. (Source: www.census.gov/cps).

As we look at this data, several patterns stand out:

• Unemployment rates do fluctuate over time. During the deep recessions of the early 1980s and of 2007–2009, unemployment reached roughly 10%. For comparison, during the Great Depression of the 1930s, the unemployment rate reached almost 25% of the labor force.
• Unemployment rates in the late 1990s and into the mid-2000s were rather low by historical standards. The unemployment rate was below 5% from 1997 to 2000 and near 5% during almost all of 2006–2007. The previous time unemployment had been less than 5% for three consecutive years was three decades earlier, from 1968 to 1970. It has returned to this level in 2016.
• The unemployment rate never falls all the way to zero. Indeed, it never seems to get below 3%—and it stays that low only for very short periods. (Reasons why this is the case will be discussed later.)
• The timing of rises and falls in unemployment matches fairly well with the timing of upswings and downswings in the overall economy. During periods of recession and depression, unemployment is high. During periods of economic growth, unemployment tends to be lower.
• No significant upward or downward trend in unemployment rates is apparent. This point is especially worth noting because the U.S. population nearly quadrupled from 76 million in 1900 to over 314 million by 2012. Moreover, a higher proportion of U.S. adults are now in the paid workforce, because women have entered the paid labor force in significant numbers in recent decades. Women composed 18% of the paid workforce in 1900 and nearly half of the paid workforce in 2012. But despite the increased number of workers, as well as ot her economic events like globalization and the continuous invention of new technologies, the economy has provided jobs without causing any long-term upward or downward trend in unemployment rates.

Unemployment Rates by Group

Unemployment is not distributed evenly across the U.S. population. Figure 2 shows unemployment rates broken down in various ways: by gender, age, and race/ethnicity.

Figure 2. Unemployment Rate by Demographic Group. (a) By gender, 1972–2012. Unemployment rates for men used to be lower than unemployment rates for women, but in recent decades, the two rates have been very close, often with the unemployment rate for men somewhat higher. (b) By age, 1972–2012. Unemployment rates are highest for the very young and become lower with age. (c) By race and ethnicity, 1972–2012 . Although unemployment rates for all groups tend to rise and fall together, the unemployment rate for whites has been lower than the unemployment rate for Blacks and Hispanics in recent decades. (Source: www.census.gov/bls).

The unemployment rate for women had historically tended to be higher than the unemployment rate for men, perhaps reflecting the historical pattern that women were seen as “secondary” earners. By about 1980, however, the unemployment rate for women was essentially the same as that for men, as shown in 2(a). During the recession of 2008–2009, however, the unemployment rate climbed higher for men than for women.

Figure 3 . While women had historically more affected by unemployment, there is very little gender unemployment gap today.

Younger workers tend to have higher unemployment, while mid dle-aged workers tend to have lower unemployment, probably because the middle-aged workers feel the responsibility of needing to have a job more heavily, in addition to having more experience. Younger workers move in and out of jobs (and in and out of the labor force) more easily. Elderly workers have extremely low rates of unemployment, because those who do n ot have jobs often exit the labor force by retiring, and thus are not counted in the unemployment statistics. Figure 2(b) shows unemployment rates for women divided by age; the pattern for men is similar.

The unemployment rate for African-Americans is substantially higher than the rate for other racial or ethnic groups, a fact that surely reflects, to some extent, a pattern of discrimination that has constrained Blacks’ labor market opportunities. However, the gaps between unemployment rates for whites and for Blacks and Hispanics diminished in the 1990s, as shown in Figure 3(c). In fact, unemployment rates for Blacks and Hispanics were at the lowest levels for several decades in the mid-2000s before rising during the Great Recession of 2008.

Finally, those with less education typically suffer higher unemployment. In early 2013, for example, the unemployment rate for those with a college degree was 3.7%; for those with some college but not a four-year degree, the unemployment rate was 6.0%; for high school graduates with no additional degree, the unemployment rate was 7.6%; and for those without a high school diploma, the unemployment rate was 10.3%. This pattern may arise because additional education offers better connections to the labor market and higher demand, or it may occur because the labor market opportunities for low-skilled workers are less attractive than the opportunities for the more highly-skilled. Because of lower pay, low-skilled workers may be less motivated to find jobs.

Thinking about Unemployment

We cannot rely on unemployment statistics to provide a clear picture of total unemployment in the United States. First, unemployment statistics do not take into account underemployment , a state in which a person accepts a lower paying, lower status job than their education and experience qualifies them to perform. Second, unemployment statistics only count those:

• who are actively looking for work
• who have not earned income from a job in the past four weeks
• who are ready, willing, and able to work

The unemployment statistics provided by the U.S. government are rarely accurate, because many of the unemployed become discouraged and stop looking for work. Not only that, but these statistics undercount the youngest and oldest workers, the chronically unemployed (e.g., homeless), and seasonal and migrant workers.

A certain amount of unemployment is a direct result of the relative inflexibility of the labor market, considered structural unemployment , which describes when there is a societal level of disjuncture between people seeking jobs and the available jobs. This mismatch can be geographic (they are hiring in California, but most unemployed live in Alabama), technological (skilled workers are replaced by machines, as in the auto industry), or can result from any sudden change in the types of jobs people are seeking versus the types of companies that are hiring.

Because of the high standard of living in the United States, many people are working at full-time jobs but are still poor by the standards of relative poverty. They are the working poor. The United States has a higher percentage of working poor than many other developed countries (Brady, Fullerton and Cross 2010). In terms of employment, the Bureau of Labor Statistics defines the working poor as those who have spent at least 27 weeks working or looking for work, and yet remain below the poverty line. Many of the facts about the working poor are as expected: Those who work only part time are more likely to be classified as working poor than those with full-time employment; higher levels of education lead to less likelihood of being among the working po or; gender and race impact ones odds of being in this group and those with children under 18 are four times more likely than those without children to fall into this category. In 2016, the working poor rate, which is the the ratio of the working poor to all individuals in the labor force for at lest 27 weeks or more, was 4.9  percent, or 7.6 million Americans, down from 2015. In that same year women were more likely than men to be among the working poor. The rate for Blacks and Hispanics were 8.7 percent and 8.5 percent, respectively, compared with 4.3 percent for whites and 3.5 percent for Asians (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics 2016).

Figure 4.  Women are disproportionately represented in the working-poor, especially Black and Hispanic women.

Age also plays a factor in being classified as the working poor.  The working-poor rate of employed youths 20 to 24 years old was 8.7 percent in 2016, considerably higher than the rates for workers ages 35 to 44 (5.6 percent) and 55 to 64 (2.8 percent). Workers age 65 and older had a working-poor rate of 1.5 percent.  (Chart 1) [2]

Figure 5.  Poverty rates vary by states and region. As you can see, areas with the highest level of poverty are relaively tightly clustered, but the second-highest rates of poverty occur in states across the nation, from Nevada and Arizona in the Southwest to New York in the Northeast. (Credit: U.S. Census Bureau)

MillenNials and Poverty

Millennials, or Americans born between 1982 and 2000, now number 83.1 million and represent more than one quarter of the nation’s population. Young adults today are marrying at lower rates than previous generations, and self-reports suggest that a lack of economic security including wages, poverty, and housing (e.g., housing costs and living arrangements) are all associated with lower marriage rates among young adults.  [3] . According to Pew Research (2017) more millennial households are in poverty than households headed by any other generation. In 2016, of the approximate 17 million U.S. household living in poverty, 5.3 million were headed by a millennial. [4] \

Figure 5 . Millennials face greater rates of poverty when compared with other generations.

Most developed countries such as the United States protect their citizens from extreme poverty by providing different levels of social services such as unemployment insurance, welfare, food assistance, and so on. They may also provide job training and retraining so that people can reenter the job market. In the past, the elderly were particularly vulnerable to falling into poverty after they stopped working; however, pensions, retirement plans, and Social Security were designed to help prevent this. A major concern in the United States is the rising number of young people growing up in poverty. Growing up poor can cut off access to the education and services people need to move out of poverty and into stable employment. As we saw, more education was often a key to stability, and those raised in poverty are the ones least able to find well-paying work, perpetuating a cycle.

Another notion important to sociologists and citizens is the expense of being poor. In a practical sense, people with more money on hand, better credit, a more stable income, and reliable insurance can purchase items or services in different ways than people who lack those things. For example, someone with a higher income can pay bills more reliably, as well as have more credit extended to them through credit cards or loans. When it comes time for those people to purchase a car, for example, they can likely negotiate a lower monthly payment or less money down. In an even more simplistic situation, people with more spending money can buy groceries in bulk, spending far less per unit than those who must purchase smaller portions. The single greatest expense for most adults is housing; beyond its significant portion of a family’s expenses, housing drives many other costs, such as transportation (how close does someone live to the places they need to go), childcare, and other areas. And people in poverty pay significantly more for their housing than others – sometimes 70-80 percent of their total income. Those with fewer resources are also more likely to rent rather than own, so they do not build credit in the same way, nor do they have the opportunity to sell the property later and utilize their equity (Nobles 2019).

The ways that governments, organizations, individuals, and society as a whole help the poor are matters of significant debate, informed by extensive study. Sociologists and other professionals contribute to these conversations and provide evidence of the impacts of these circumstances and interventions to change them. The decisions made on these issues have a profound effect on working in the United States.

Think It Over

• Why do you think millennials have such a high number of households living in poverty? 
• Hicks, M. J. (2013). Notes On: Labor Markets After the Great Recession: Unemployment and Policy for Indiana. Labor Law Journal, 64(2), 103–113. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bth&AN=88045408&site=ehost-live ↵
• BLS Reports. A profile of the working poor, 2016. Retrieved from  https://www.bls.gov/opub/reports/working-poor/2016/home.htm . ↵
• Gurrentz, Benjamin (April 2018) Millennial Marriage: How Much Does Economic Security Matter to Marriage Rates for Young Adults?   Retrieved from https://www.census.gov/library/working-papers/2018/demo/SEHSD-WP2018-09.html ↵
• Fry, Richard (2017).  5 facts about Millennial households . Pew Research Center. Retrieved from:  https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/09/06/5-facts-about-millennial-households/ ↵
• Modification, adaptation, and original content. Authored by : Rebecca Vonderhaar for Lumen Learning. Provided by : Lumen Learning. License : CC BY: Attribution
• Work in the United States. Authored by : OpenStax CNX. Located at : https://cnx.org/contents/[email protected]:cdCaIHP1@3/Work-in-the-United-States . License : CC BY: Attribution . License Terms : Download for free at http://cnx.org/contents/[email protected]
• Patterns of Unemployment. Authored by : OpenStax College. Located at : https://cnx.org/contents/[email protected]:82qMsJce/Patterns-of-Unemployment . Project : Economics. License : CC BY: Attribution
• Patterns of Unemployment. Provided by : Lumen Learning. Located at : https://courses.lumenlearning.com/wm-macroeconomics/chapter/patterns-of-unemployment/ . Project : Macroeconomics. License : CC BY: Attribution
• Work in the United States. Provided by : OpenStax. Located at : https://openstax.org/books/introduction-sociology-3e/pages/18-3-work-in-the-united-states . Project : Sociology 3e. License : CC BY: Attribution . License Terms : Access for free at https://openstax.org/books/introduction-sociology-3e/pages/18-3-work-in-the-united-states
• 5 facts about Millennial households (graph). Authored by : Richard Fry. Provided by : Pew Research Center. Located at : https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/09/06/5-facts-about-millennial-households/ . License : All Rights Reserved
• The Gender Unemployment Gap Image. Authored by : Guillaume Vandenbroucke and Heting Zhu . Provided by : Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. Located at : https://www.stlouisfed.org/publications/regional-economist/second-quarter-2018/gender-risk-unemployment . License : All Rights Reserved

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The connection between poverty and the economy.

November 1, 2006

Article Highlights

Changes in unemployment rate, median wages predict poverty rate

Poverty rises with population increase, smaller college-educated population

Higher median age associated with a lower poverty rate

It makes sense that poverty rates are related to the overall health of the economy. As the economy grows, so do opportunities for employment and income growth. Stronger labor markets and higher income levels tend to help those families living in poverty move above the poverty threshold.

According to national data, poverty rates have moved somewhat together with changes in the unemployment rate since 1959, and in opposite directions in relation to changes in inflation-adjusted median income (see chart). That is, lower poverty rates coincide with decreases in unemployment or increases in income.

Some studies have suggested that the relationship between changes in the poverty rate and macroeconomic variables have weakened over time. An October 2005 National Bureau of Economic Research working paper by Hilary Hoynes, Marianne Page and Ann Stevens suggests that while the link has weakened, changes in the unemployment rate and median wages nevertheless predict changes in the poverty rate rather well.

The researchers use the U.S. unemployment rate, median wages, a measure for income inequality and region of the country to predict annual changes in poverty rates from 1967 to 2003. Their results imply that an increase in the unemployment rate of 1 percentage point increases the poverty rate by between 0.4 and 0.7 percentage points, while a 1 percent increase in median wages is associated with about a 0.2 percentage point decrease in the poverty rate. The effects were somewhat larger for both variables from 1967 to 1979 and were somewhat smaller from 1990 to 2003, illustrating the weakened effect of macroeconomic variables on poverty rates.

In light of these results from a national model, a similar model using Ninth District county-level data was used to predict changes in poverty rates from 1997 to 2003, the years in which annual county data were available. In the district model, slightly different measures of poverty rates and median income were used compared with the national model, and the district model doesn't include a measure for income inequality. The district model also includes county population, percentage of population that is minority and median age.

Similar to the national model, a 1 percent increase in median income is associated with about a 0.2 percentage point decrease in the poverty rate. The effect of the unemployment rate is smaller than in the national model, indicating that a 1 percentage point increase in the unemployment rate is associated with a 0.2 percentage point increase in the poverty rate. Furthermore, an increase in population of 10,000 people is associated with a 0.05 percentage point increase in the poverty rate. That is, when median income and the unemployment rate are held constant, poverty rates are relatively higher in more populated counties, but the associated effect is relatively small.

Higher minority populations are associated with higher poverty rates, while a higher median age is associated with a lower poverty rate. In addition, the analysis also indicates that a higher percentage of population with a college degree is associated with lower poverty rates, and the presence of a Native American reservation is associated with higher poverty rates.

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Poverty entails more than the lack of income and productive resources to ensure sustainable livelihoods. Its manifestations include hunger and malnutrition, limited access to education and other basic services, social discrimination and exclusion as well as the lack of participation in decision-making. Various social groups bear disproportionate burden of poverty.

The World Social Summit identified poverty eradication as an ethical, social, political and economic imperative of mankind and called on governments to address the root causes of poverty, provide for basic needs for all and ensure that the poor have access to productive resources, including credit, education and training. Recognizing insufficient progress in the poverty reduction, the 24th special session of the General Assembly devoted to the review of the Copenhagen commitments, decided to set up targets to reduce the proportion of people living in extreme poverty by one half by 2015. This target has been endorsed by the Millennium Summit as Millennium Development Goal 1.

Poverty eradication must be mainstreamed into the national policies and actions in accordance with the internationally agreed development goals forming part of the broad United Nations Development Agenda, forged at UN conferences and summits in the economic, social and related fields. The Second United Nations Decade for the Eradication of Poverty (2008-2017),  proclaimed by the General Assembly in December 2007 aims at supporting such a broad framework for poverty eradication, emphasizing the need to strengthen the leadership role of the United Nations in promoting international cooperation for development, critical for the eradication of poverty.

A social perspective on poverty should contribute to the debate on the effectiveness and limitations of current poverty reduction strategies. Poverty analysis from a social perspective requires thorough examination of the impact of economic and social policies on the poor and other vulnerable social groups. Poverty and Social Impact Analysis (PSIA) serves as a tool to assess both the economic and social impact of reforms on different social and income groups. Properly conducted PSIA contributes to national debate on policy options and helps to promote national ownership of development strategies and could contribute to the operationalization of Copenhagen’s commitments.

• The  Commission for Social Development (CSocD)  is the key United Nations body in charge of the follow up and implementation of the Copenhagen Declaration and Programme of Action
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Unemployment Causes and Effects Essay

Introduction, causes of unemployment, effects of unemployment, works cited.

Unemployment causes and effects are vital to recognize in order to solve the problem. Analyzing them can also allow people to realize what consequences are to expect. Yet, first of all, all the essential terminology should be defined.

Unemployment refers to a state of not having a job. It entails individuals with the ability to work, a resolve to find employment, available and in the hunt for employment (Stone 25). Categories of unemployment include classical, structural, frictional, cyclical, and hidden types.

Classical unemployment entails a situation in which earnings received for a job go beyond ordinary levels. This results in limited job vacancies for people. The structural type refers to a situation in which unemployed individuals fail to meet job requirements in terms of skills needed (Stone 29). Frictional unemployment concerns the changeover phase between jobs, while the cyclical one refers to a state in which claims in the economy fail to offer jobs to people. When the claim for goods and services lowers, there is a limited production that requires few workers (Stone 29). Finally, the hidden type refers to the unemployment of prospective workers due to errors made in generating statistics on the subject (Stone 30).

The causes and effects of unemployment impact individuals, society and the economy in general. The overall problem issue results from various factors relating to social, economic, environmental, political and individual elements in an economy. So, to gather both consequences and causes of unemployment, this essay attempts to consider and analyze them separately.

Unemployment results from several causes and factors related to an economy. Some causes are due to personal choices while others are beyond individual control (Stone 31). People invest many resources in gaining reputable education and eligibility for jobs, but often find themselves with no employment (Stone 34). Unemployment results from factors and causes discussed below.

The first cause is inflation. Inflation refers to the progressive increase in prices of commodities and services in the economy. Economic inflation is one of the major causes of unemployment (Stone 37). Inflation results in a limited market activity by economies that cannot match efforts by others due to escalating prices. The economy experiences trouble, and progressively employers fire some workers to reduce the cost of production. This result in unemployment among the individuals fired.

The second cause is recession. Recession refers to decline Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of an economy, employment rate and market activity (Dawson 75). Economic recession links directly with economic inflation. Recession results from inflation where people are not able to afford goods and services offered by the economy (Stone 41).

A decline in production and more imports than exports characterize a recession. These elements influence negatively on GDP of an economy. This results in increased rates of unemployment because many employers refuse to hire while others fire some of their employees (Stone 43).

Another cause is change in technology. Rapid change in technology is driving many employers into diversifying and improving the effectiveness of their workforce (Dawson 78). Some of technology applied replaces individuals in the production process as some process executed manually apply through technology.

This leads to several people losing their jobs. Job dissatisfaction is also another leading cause of unemployment (Dawson 78). New technology results in some employees being involved partially in production activities, which leads to frustration. Frustrations may lead to employee resignation (Dawson 80). This causes unemployment.

Another cause is employee worth (Dawson 85). Employees put a lot of effort and dedication in their activities but often end up unappreciated by their employers. This may result to lack of motivation among employees, which may compel them to stop working for their employers (Dawson 85).

This leads to individuals being unemployed until they find employers who appreciate their efforts. Discrimination in places of work is another cause of unemployment. Discrimination could be because of age, gender, social class, race, religion or ethnic background. Securing a job in such a working environment is extremely difficult and may discourage people from looking for jobs as well as forcing those already in jobs to quit (Dawson 87).

Other causes of unemployment relate to an individual and include disability, attitude towards potential employers, negative perceptions about jobs and employees as well as an individual’s ability to look for a job (Dawson 93). Welfare payments should be discouraged as they reduce the will of unemployed people to look for jobs. People develop dependency on grants and lack any meaning in employment since they are able to meet their basic needs (Dawson 98).

Unemployment has both positive and negative effects. However, negative effects of unemployment surpass positive effects (Stone 65). Unemployed individuals experience difficulties meeting their basic needs as well as contributing to economic prosperity of their countries (Stone 66). In recessions, many people lose their jobs, but companies usually develop mechanisms to produce more goods with limited workforce. Unemployment leads to effects discussed below.

The first effect is loss of income. Unemployment results in individuals losing their source of income and livelihood. Most people in employment use their incomes to get mortgages and other forms of financing (Stone 69). Loss of income leads to poor living standards and increased risk on health.

Another effect of unemployment is social exclusion. A work place provides a platform for socialization. When people lose their jobs, their social circle reduces considerably and end up excluded from the social environment. Other social problems associated with unemployment include crime, bribery and gambling (Stone 70).

Unemployment causes political instability (Stone 75). When majority of a country’s population is unemployed, life becomes hard, and people develop hostile characters. They consider their government as ineffective and incapable of providing the needs of its people (Stone 76). Such individuals participate in movements that oppose government policies through riots that result in political instability.

effects of unemployment include over exploitation of available labor, reduced rate of economic growth, reduced human capacity, loss of human resources and increase in poverty levels (Dawson 101). One positive effect of unemployment is the availability of adequate labor at reduced market prices. When many people are unemployed, labor is available at competitive prices because people are always eager to have some income (Stone 80).

Unemployment has various categories that include classical, structural, frictional, cyclical and hidden unemployment (Stone 26). Unemployment results from several factors that vary in terms of the supporting conditions. Some causes are due to personal choices while others are beyond individual control. Unemployment has both positive and negative effects, although negative effects surpass positive effects. Welfare payments should be discouraged as they reduce the will of unemployed people to look for jobs (Stone 50).

People should be encouraged to look for a job instead of waiting on grants because they may not achieve financial freedom to satisfactory levels. In order to reduce the effects of unemployment, governments should develop and implement policies that regulate circumstances in which an employer can fire an employee (Dawson 90). This will prevent victimization of employees by employers who take advantage of weak policies on labor regulation and employee protection.

Dawson, Graham. Inflation and Unemployment: Causes, Consequences and Cures . California: University of California, 2008. Print.

Stone, Jack. Unemployment: The Shocking Truth of Its Causes, Its Outrageous Consequences and What Can Be Done About It . New York: Trafford on Demand Pub, 2007. Print.

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1. IvyPanda . "Unemployment Causes and Effects Essay." October 28, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/causes-and-effects-of-unemployment/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "Unemployment Causes and Effects Essay." October 28, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/causes-and-effects-of-unemployment/.

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Unemployment Essay for Students and Children

500+ words essay on unemployment.

Unemployment is a very serious issue not only in India but in the whole world. There are hundreds and thousands of people out there who do not have employment . Besides, the problems of unemployment are very severe in India because of the growing population and demand for jobs. Moreover, if we neglect this problem then it will be going to become the reason for the doom of the nation.

What is Unemployment?

Unemployment refers to a situation in which a skilled and talented people wanted to do a job. But cannot find a proper job due to several reasons.

Types of Unemployment

Now we know what is unemployment but unemployment does not only mean that the person does not have a job. Likewise, unemployment also includes people working in areas out of their expertise.

The various types of unemployment include disguised unemployment, seasonal unemployment, open unemployment, technological unemployment, structural unemployment. Besides, some other unemployment is cyclic unemployment, educated unemployment, underemployment, frictional unemployment, chronic unemployment, and casual unemployment.

Above all, seasonal unemployment, under unemployment, and disguised unemployment are the most common unemployment that is found in India.

Reasons for Unemployment

In a country like India, there is much reason for a large section of the population for being unemployed. Some of these factors are population growth, slow economic growth , seasonal occupation, slow growth of the economic sector, and fall in the cottage industry.

Moreover, these are the major reason for unemployment in India. Also, the situation has become so drastic that highly educated people are ready to do the job of a sweeper. Besides, the government is not doing his work seriously.

Apart from all these, a large portion of the population is engaged in the agricultural sector and the sector only provides employment in harvest or plantation time.

In addition, the biggest reason of unemployment in India is its vast population which demands a large number of jobs every year which the government and authorities are unable to provide.

Consequences of Unemployment

If things will go on like the current scenario then unemployment will become a major issue. Apart from this, the following things happen in an economy which is an increase in poverty, an increase in crime rate, exploitation of labor, political instability, mental health, and loss of skills. As a result, all this will eventually lead to the demise of the nation.

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Initiative by Government

The government has taken the problem very seriously and have taken measures to slowly reduce unemployment. Some of these schemes includes IRDP (Integrated Rural Development Programme), DPAP (Drought Prone Area Programme), Jawahar Rozgar Yojana, Employment Assurance Scheme, NRY (Nehru Rozgar Yojana), Training for self-Employment, PMIUPEP (Prime Minister’s Integrated Urban Poverty Eradication Program), employment exchange, Employment Guarantee Scheme, development of organized sector, small and cottage industries, employment in forging countries, and Jawahar Gram Samridhi Yojana and few more.

Besides, these schemes the government also make some rules flexible, so that employment can be created in the private sector also.

To conclude, we can say that the problem of unemployment in India has reached a critical stage. But, now the government and local authorities have taken the problem seriously and working on it to reduce unemployment. Also, to completely solve the issue of unemployment we have to tackle the main issue of unemployment that is the vast population of India.

FAQs about Unemployment

Q.1 Why there is a problem of unemployment in India? A.1 Due to overpopulation and lack of proper skills there is a problem of unemployment in India.

Q.2 Define Disguised unemployment? A.2 Disguised unemployment refers to a form of employment in which more than the required numbers of people work in industry or factory. And removing some employee will not affect productivity.

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Unemployment Essay

500+ words essay on unemployment.

Unemployment is a serious problem among young people. There are thousands of people who do not have any work to do and cannot find work for themselves. Unemployment refers to the situation where a person wants to work but cannot find employment in the labour market. One of the major reasons that contribute to unemployment is the large population of India and the limited availability of resources. In this essay on unemployment, we will discuss all these issues responsible for unemployment in India and how we can overcome this problem. Students must go through this unemployment essay to get ideas on how to write an effective essay on the topic related to unemployment. Also, they can practice more CBSE essays on different topics to boost their writing skills.

Unemployment is measured by the unemployment rate, defined as the number of people actively looking for a job as a percentage of the labour force. The unemployment rate for the year 2013-14 in rural India was 4.7%, whereas it was 5.5% for urban India. In the short term, unemployment significantly reduces a person’s income and, in the long term, it reduces their ability to save for retirement and other goals. Unemployment is a loss of valuable productive resources to the economy. The impact of job loss in rural and regional areas flows through the local community, damaging businesses.

Reason for Unemployment

An unemployed person is one who is an active member of the labour force and is seeking work but is unable to find any work for himself. There are multiple reasons behind the unemployment of a person. One of them is the slow economic growth, due to which jobs in adequate numbers are not created. Excessive dependence on agriculture and slow growth of non-farm activities also limit employment generation. Unemployment in urban areas is mainly the result of substantial rural migration to urban areas. This has also resulted in a labour workforce in cities. The lack of technology and proper machinery has also contributed to unemployment.

The present educational system is based on theoretical knowledge instead of practical work. Thus, it lacks the development of aptitude and technical qualifications required for various types of work among job seekers. This has created a mismatch between the need and availability of relevant skills and training. This results in unemployment, especially among the youth and educated people with high degrees and qualifications. Apart from it, the lack of investment and infrastructure has led to inadequate employment opportunities in different sectors.

Steps to Eliminate Unemployment

Various strategies and proposals have been implemented to generate employment. Many Employment programmes and policies have been introduced and undertaken to boost self-employment and help unemployed people engage in public works. The Government of India has taken several policy measures to fight the problem of unemployment. Some of the measures are the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), National Skill Development Mission, Swarna Jayanti Shahari Rozgar Yojana (SJSRY), Regional Rural Banks (RRBs).

Despite the measures taken by the government, India remains a country experiencing severe unemployment problems. It can be resolved by imparting education in such a way that youth get the necessary skills so as to get employment easily. Setting up various vocational training and vocational courses for undergraduate and postgraduate students will help in finding employment for youth. The government needs to emphasise these courses at the primary level and make them a compulsory part of the curriculum to make students proficient in their early stages of life. Career counselling should be provided within schools and colleges so that students can choose a better career option based on their interests and ability. Government should create more job opportunities for the youth and graduates.

India is a fast-growing economy. There is an enormous scope for improvement in the unemployment sector. The various measures and steps taken by the government to increase the employment rate have succeeded to a great extent. The widespread skill development programmes have gained popularity across the nation. With better enforcement of the strategies, the employment level can be significantly improved. Although, we have to go a long way before we can say that all the people in India will get employment.

We hope this essay on unemployment must have helped students in boosting their essay-writing skills. Keep learning and visiting the BYJU’S website for more study material.

Frequently Asked Questions on Unemployment Essay

Is unemployment still an existing problem in india.

Yes, unemployment is still a serious issue in our country. Steps need to be taken by the government and also by the youngsters in India to improve this situation.

Is it necessary for schoolchildren to be informed about unemployment?

Students at this young age should definitely be informed about this topic as it will motivate them to study and aim for higher scores in exams.

What points are to be added to an essay topic on Unemployment?

Add details about different age groups of people suffering from this state of employment. You can focus on the fact that poverty is an indirect reason for unemployment and vice-versa. Then, suggest steps that can be taken to bring about an improvement in education and increase the percentage of literacy.

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Elektrostal

Elektrostal Localisation : Country Russia , Oblast Moscow Oblast . Available Information : Geographical coordinates , Population, Area, Altitude, Weather and Hotel . Nearby cities and villages : Noginsk , Pavlovsky Posad and Staraya Kupavna .

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Geographic coordinates of Elektrostal, Moscow Oblast, Russia

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Coordinates of elektrostal in degrees and decimal minutes, utm coordinates of elektrostal, geographic coordinate systems.

WGS 84 coordinate reference system is the latest revision of the World Geodetic System, which is used in mapping and navigation, including GPS satellite navigation system (the Global Positioning System).

Geographic coordinates (latitude and longitude) define a position on the Earth’s surface. Coordinates are angular units. The canonical form of latitude and longitude representation uses degrees (°), minutes (′), and seconds (″). GPS systems widely use coordinates in degrees and decimal minutes, or in decimal degrees.

Latitude varies from −90° to 90°. The latitude of the Equator is 0°; the latitude of the South Pole is −90°; the latitude of the North Pole is 90°. Positive latitude values correspond to the geographic locations north of the Equator (abbrev. N). Negative latitude values correspond to the geographic locations south of the Equator (abbrev. S).

Longitude is counted from the prime meridian ( IERS Reference Meridian for WGS 84) and varies from −180° to 180°. Positive longitude values correspond to the geographic locations east of the prime meridian (abbrev. E). Negative longitude values correspond to the geographic locations west of the prime meridian (abbrev. W).

UTM or Universal Transverse Mercator coordinate system divides the Earth’s surface into 60 longitudinal zones. The coordinates of a location within each zone are defined as a planar coordinate pair related to the intersection of the equator and the zone’s central meridian, and measured in meters.

Elevation above sea level is a measure of a geographic location’s height. We are using the global digital elevation model GTOPO30 .

Elektrostal , Moscow Oblast, Russia