PERIODIC LABOUR FORCE SURVEY (PLFS) DATA FOR 2017-18
Why in News?
The govt has finally released Annual Report of the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS)
2017-18 and the Quarterly Bulletin PLFS.
Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS):
- The PLFS was launched from 1st April 2017.
- Primary aim of the PLFS is to generate reasonably accurate indicators of labour market at
a short span for every quarter for which speed of quality data collection and processing
are important. - PLFS was launched with the objective of measuring employment every three months in
urban areas and once a year in both rural and urban areas. - The quarterly survey only captures data classed as current weekly status (CWS), while the
annual survey measures both the usual status and CWS. - The NSSO was historically conducting Employment and Unemployment Surveys as part
of its National Sample Surveys.
Who are the Unemployed?
- Labour force means people working or looking for jobs in the age group of 15-29 years.
- CWS Method: A person who is unable to get work for even an hour in the last seven days
despite seeking employment is considered unemployed. - Usual Status Method: Under this, the employment activity of a person is determined on
the basis of a reference period of 365 days preceding the date of the survey.
Trends:
- Labour force participation has been declining and touched 36.9% in 2017-18 as more
among them, especially females, enrolled for higher studies. - The youth accounted for 28.2% of urban males and 27.8% of urban females.
- During 2017-18, among people aged 15-29 years, the share of the educated was 65.8%
among urban males. It was 65.4% among urban females. - A higher percentage of males compared to females had received either formal or nonformal vocational training.
Reality of jobless growth:
- The rising unemployment rate despite falling labour force participation for the youth is
more worrying. - This is likely to raise questions about whether India is suffering from jobless growth.
- According to Census 2011, India has 333 million youth—a number that is likely to touch
367 million in 2021 and 370 million by 2031. - With this huge rise in youth unemployment, it is hard to reconcile this information with
the EPFO data that people keep talking about, because a majority of the new entrants to
EPFO would be the younger people.