According to the Economic Survey 2024-25, 58.4% of India’s workforce was self-employed in 2023-24.
This figure represents a significant increase from 52.2% in 2017-18. The Survey interprets this rise as a shift toward entrepreneurship and a growing preference for flexible work arrangements among the Indian population.
Key Highlights from the Report
Decline in Casual Labor: The proportion of casual workers in the workforce dropped from 24.9% in 2017-18 to 19.8% in 2023-24. This suggests that people are moving away from temporary, precarious jobs toward more structured self-employment.
Rise in Women’s Entrepreneurship: The shift is particularly notable among rural women. The share of "own-account workers" or employers among rural women increased from 19% in 2017-18 to 31.2% in 2023-24.
Urban Shift: In urban areas, self-employed individuals (own-account workers/employers) rose from 23.7% to 28.5% over the same period.
Important Questions from Unemployment & Poverty
________ arises when the qualification of a person is NOT sufficient to meet his/her job responsibilities.
Which of the following are regarded as the causes of poverty in India?
(i) Low resources endowment
(ii) Inequality in the distribution of income and assets
(iii) Lack of access to social services.
_____ unemployment attributable to the time required to match production activities with qualified resources.
In 2005, an expert group was constituted by the Planning Commission to review methodology for poverty estimation. It was chaired by ____.
______ is a kind of unemployment in which there are people who are visibly employed but are actually unemployed or not utilizing their proper skills to its maximum level.
