For the first time since Independence, India saw a shift of surplus labour from agriculture to the non-agricultural sectors
Although income mobility improved country-wide in the seven years to 2012, the progress was unequal between states, while the likelihood of children pursuing the same occupation as their fathers declined for those employed in the low productivity agricultural sector, noted a January 2019 study on economic mobility.
Farmers’ children were 21.1 percentage points less likely to take up farming in 2012 than in 2005, their likelihood down to 32.4%, while the children of agricultural and other labourers were 4.1 percentage points less likely to pursue the same occupation as their fathers, the likelihood, 58.6%, the study noted.
For the first time since Independence, India saw a shift of surplus labour from agriculture to the non-agricultural sectors, as employment in agriculture fell in absolute numbers, Divya Prakash, co-author of the study and a research associate at JustJobs Network told IndiaSpend.
Reduced employment in agriculture can largely be explained by the fact that more young people are acquiring an education, and with it comes the expectation of a better job, Sabina Dewan, co-author of the study, and president and executive director of JustJobs Network, told IndiaSpend, “The quality of jobs is as important as the quantity of jobs."
Please click here to read more.