CBSE Class 11 Economics Growth Informalisation Assignment Set 01

Employment : Growth Informalisation and other Issues. 

MCQ Questions for NCERT Class 11 Economics Employment Growth Informalisation and Other Issues

Question: The difference between labour force and workforce is?
a) Total employed labour
b) Disguised unemployed labour
c) Seasonal unemployed labour
d) Unemployed labour
Answer: D

Question: The major cause of unemployment in India can be classified as
a) Under development
B) Rapid population growth
c) Defective planning
D) All of these
Answer: D

Question: Supply of labour corresponding to different wage rates is referred as:
a) Labour supply
b) Labour force
c) participation rate
d) Work force
Answer: A

Question: A kind of unemployment in which workers seems to be working but its contribution to production is negligible is called
a) Disguised unemployment
b) Involuntary unemployment
c) seasonal unemployment
d) structural unemployment
Answer: A

Question: Which type of unemployment is more in India?
a) Open Unemployment
b) Seasonal unemployment
c) Disguised unemployment
d) Educated unemployment
Answer: C

Question: Those who do not get any pension or gratuity benefits are known as:
a) Self-employed workers
b) Casual workers
c) regular workers
d) unemployed
Answer: B

Question: Most of the disguised unemployed persons in India are found in
a) Agriculture
b) Industry
c) Trade
d) Transport
Answer: A

Question: In which type of unemployment do the marginal productivity of the workers is zero?
A) Disguised unemployment
B) Involuntary unemployment
c) seasonal unemployment
D) structural unemployment
Answer: A

Question: Jobless growth leads to unemployment because:
a) Labour refuses to migrate
b) labour is very expensive
c) GDP growth is slow
d) Growth is due to technology
Answer: D

Question: Even during the time of cultivation, _______ unemployment in common in farms
a) Disguised unemployment
b) Seasonal unemployment
c) Frictional unemployment
d) Cyclic unemployment
Answer: A

Question: The formula to calculate workforce participation ratio is
a) (workforce / total population) x 100
b) (workforce / Labour force) x 100
c) (Number of unemployed persons / Labour force) x 100
d) Workforce + Numbers of people who are willing to work but are unemployed
Answer: B

Question: The process of moving from Self- Employment and regular salaried employment to casual wage work is known as
a) Informalisation of workforce
b) Casualization of workforce
c) Both a & b
d) None of the above
Answer: B

Question: Jobless growth refers to
a) No economic growth with low levels of employment
b) Economic growth without generating employment
c) Low unemployment and lower level of economic growth
d) No growth with high unemployment
Answer: B

Question: Who all are categorized as workers?
a) Those who engaged in economic activities
b) Those who help the main workers
c) Those who are self-employed
d) All of the above
Answer: D

Question: Which of the following is working in the informal sector?
a) A private school teacher In a school which has 25 teachers.
b) The owner of a textile shop employing nine workers.
c) Driver of a bus company which has more than 10 buses with 20 drivers, conductors and others workers.
d) Civil engineer working in a construction company which has 10 workers.
Answer : B

Question: Most of the unemployment in India is
a) Voluntary
b) Structural
c) Frictional
d) Technical
Answer : B

Question: Unemployment is a situation in which all those who, owing to lack of work, are not working but either seek work though employment exchanges, intermediaries, friends or relatives or by making applications to prospective employers or express their willingness or availability for work under the prevailing condition of work and remunerations. This definition is given by:
a) Economists
b) National Sample Survey Organisation
c) Census of India
d) Directorate general of Employment and Training
Answer : B

Question: An establishment with four hired workers is known as _____________ sector establishment.
a) Formal
b) Informal
c) a) and b)
d) None of the above
Answer : B

Question: Workers who are on permanent pay-roll of their employer are called:
a) Self- employed workers
b) Casual workers
c) Regular workers
d) None of the above
Answer : C

Question: Unemployment common in urban areas
a) Seasonal unemployment
b) Disguised unemployment
c) Open unemployment
d) None of these
Answer : C

Question: When more persons are working in a job than actually required, it is known as ________.
a) Disguised unemployment
b) Seasonal unemployment
c) Educated unemployment
d) Open unemployment
Answer : A

Question: Unemployed person is one who is not able to get employment of even one hour in half a day.
This definition is given by:
a) Economists
b) National Sample Survey Organisation
c) Census of India
d) Directorate general of Employment and Training
Answer : A

Question: Measure of reduce unemployment in very short period of time
a) Reducing growth rate of population
b) Reducing inequalities in the distribution of income and wealth
c) Increasing investment in private and public sectors
d) None of these
Answer : C

Question: ____________ unemployment may result some workers are temporarily out of work while hanging job.
a) Cyclical
b) Voluntary
c) Fictional
d) Seasonal
Answer : C

Question: The number of persons, who are actually employed at a particular time are known as
a) work participation ratio
b) workforce
c) workers
d) None of the above
Answer: B

Question: Which of the following is not a benefit of studying about working people?
a) Give us insights into quality of employment
b) Helps to address many social issues
c) Helps to reduce gender inequality
d) Helps in better planning of our human resource
Answer: C

Question: Which of the following institution(s) provide data on unemployment
a) NSSO
b) Census Reports
c) NITI Aayog
d) Both a & b
Answer: D

Question: Find out the correctly matched pair from the following
Column I                          Column II
a) REGP                          i) Direct generation of employment
b) Construction of Dam    ii) Indirect generation of employment
c) SJSRY                         iii) Nutritional enrichment program
d) PMRY                          iv) Self-employment programme
Answer: D

Question: Find out the correctly matched pair from the following
Column I                                    Column II
a) Disguised Unemployment      i) Occurs at certain seasons of the year
b) Industrial Unemployment      ii) Is a type of urban unemployment
c) Educated unemployment.     iii) more people are engaged in work than are really needed
d) Open Unemployment            iv) among the educated people.
Answer: B

Fill in The Blanks

Question: During 2011-12, India had about __________ The rural workers constitute about__________ of this.
Answer : 473 million; three-fourth

Question: When a worker is engaged by someone or an enterprise and paid his or her wages on a regular basis they are known as__________. They account for __________ of India’s workforce.
Answer : regular salaried employees; 18%

Question: Owing to the efforts of the ________ government has initiated the modernisation of informal sector enterprises and provision of social security measures to informal sector workers.
Answer : International Labour Organisation (ILO)

Question: ___________ is a major source of livelihood for both men and women as this category accounts for more than 50 per cent of India’s workforce.
a) Self-employment
b) Casual wage labour
c) Regular salaried employment
d) None of these
Answer : Self-employment

Question: Workers who own and operate an enterprise to earn their livelihood are known as _________ About in India belongs to this category.
Answer : self-employed; 52 percent

Question: The newly emerging jobs are found mostly in the __________ sector. (service/manufacturing)
Answer : service

ASSERTION & REASONING

Read the two statements labelled as Assertion (A) and Reason (R) and choose the correct option from the following
(a) Both Assertion (A) and Reason (R) are true and Reason (R) is the correct explanation of Assertion (A).
(b) Both Assertion (A) and Reason (R) are true and Reason (R) is not the correct explanation of Assertion (A)
(c) Assertion (A) is true but Reason (R) is false
(d) Assertion (A) is false but Reason (R) is true.

Question: Assertion (A). India is experiencing the phenomenon of jobless growth, a situation when the economy is able to produce more goods and services without a corresponding increase in the level of employment.
Reason (R). During the period 1950-2010, GDP of India grew positively and was higher than the employment growth which was not more than 2%, that resulted in a widening gap between the growth of GDP and employment
Answer: A

Question: Assertion (A): The difference in participation rate among male and female workers is very large in urban areas
Reason (R): Earnings of urban male workers are generally higher than rural males and families discourage female members from taking up jobs.
Answer: A

Question: Assertion (A): Economists argue that, over the years, the quality of employment has been deteriorating
Reason (R): More than half of the Indian workforce depends on farming as the major source of livelihood
Answer: B

Question: Assertion (A): A higher worker-population ratio means that the level of unemployment is high in the country
Reason: (R): Worker-population ratio is an indicator which is used for analyzing the employment situation in the country.
Answer: D

Question: Assertion (A): The difference in work participation rates among male and female is high in urban areas.
Reason (R): The activities in which rural women are engaged are not recognized as productive work.
Answer: C

Question: Assertion (A): Self-employment is considered as a major source of livelihood for both men and women.
Reason (R): Self-employment accounts for more than 50 percent of workforce for both men and women.
Answer: A

Question: Assertion (A): The distribution of workforce by industrial sectors shows substantial shift from farm to non-f arm work
Reason (R): Developmental strategies in India have aimed at reducing the proportion of people depending on agriculture.
Answer: A

Question: Assertion (A): Casualization of workforce makes the workers highly vulnerable.
Reason (R): The process of moving from regular salaried employment to casual wage work is termed as casualization of workforce.
Answer: B

Question: Assertion (A): India’s planned development have been aimed at expansion of the economy through increase in GDP and employment.
Reason (R): Both GDP and employment showed a steady growth over the period of 1950-2010 in India.
Answer: C

3 &4 marks questions

Question: What do you mean by Informal sector Establishment?
Answer: All those private enterprises which hire less than 10 workers are called Informal sectors. E.g. Workers who work in farms, owners of Small Enterprises, Agriculture labourers. Here they do not get regular income. No protection or regulation by government can be dismissed at any time. Live in slums, use outdated technology, do not maintain accounts.

Question: Why is worker population ratio is higher in males than in females in India?
Answer: According to 1981 census, a worker is defined as one who worked in an economic activity over a period of six months or more. Consequently, the worker Population ratio among females reduced considerably.
• In India, women are discouraged to work out of homes.
• Males are having more skills than females. It helps in knowing the proportion of population that is actively contributing to the production of goods and services of a country

Question: Work plays an important role in our lives as individuals and as members of society why do people work?
Answer:
1) people work for earning a living.
2) being employed in work gives us a sense of self-worth and enables us to relate ourselves meaningfully with other
3) every working person is actively contributing to national income and hence the development of the country by engaging in various economic activities that is the real meaning of earning a living
4) we do work not only for ourselves we also have a sense of accomplishment when we work to meet the requirements of this was dependent on us.

Question: What are the benefits of studying about working people
Answer:
1) studying about working people gives us insights into the quality and nature of employment in our country.
2) It helps in understanding and planning our human resources
3 it helps us to analyse the contribution made by different industries and sectors towards national income
4) it also helps us to address any social issues such as exploitation of marginalized sections of society, child labour etc.,

Question: Compared to urban women, more rural women are found working. Why?
Answer: Compared to urban women, more rural women are found working because of the following reasons:
1) it is common to find that where men are able to earn higher incomes, families discourage female members from taking up jobs.
2) earnings of urban male workers are generally higher than rural areas and so the urban families don't want females to work
3) Apart from this many activities for the household in which urban women are engaged are not recognized as productive work while women working on farms in the rural areas are considered a part of the work force if they are being paid wages in cash or in the form of food grains.

Question: Explain the different categories/status of workers.
Answer: Different categories/status of workers
1. Self-employed: workers who own and operate an enterprise to earn their livelihood are known as self-employed. For example, a cement shop owner a self-employed
2. Casual wage labourers: casual wage labourers are casually engaged in others farms and in return get a remuneration for the work done. For example, the construction workers are casual labourers
3. Regular salaried employees: when a worker is engaged by someone or an enterprise and paid his or her wages on a regular basis they are known as regular salaried

Question: Compared to 1970s there has hardly been any change in the distribution of workforce across various industries. Comment
Answer: The given statement is not true. Distribution of workforce by industrial sectors shows substantial shift from work to non-farm work. In 1972-73 about 74% of workers was engaged in primary sector and in 2011-12 this proportion has declined to about 50%. Secondary and service sectors are showing promising future for the Indian workforce, as shares of these sectors have increased from 11 to 24% and 15 to 27 % respectively during 1972 to 2012.

Question: Analyze the recent trends in sectoral distribution of workforce in India
Answer: All the working persons in India can be clubbed into three major sectors primary sector, secondary sector and tertiary sector
• Primary sector: - it includes agriculture and allied activities. Primary sector is the main source of employment for majority of workers in India. About 49 percentage of workers are engaged in the primary sector.
• Secondary sector: - it includes (i)mining and quarrying (ii) manufacturing (iii) electricity gas and water supply (iv) construction. Secondary sector provides employment to only 24 percentage of workforce in India.
• Tertiary/ service sector: it includes (i) trade (ii) Transportand storage(iii) services. About 27% of workers are in the service sector

Question: Do you think that in the last 50 years’ employment generated in the country is commensurate with the growth of GDP in India? How?
Answer: No, because during the period of 1950 to 2010, GDP of India grew positively and was higher than the employment growth. During this period employment grew at the rate of not more than 2%. However, there was always a fluctuation in the growth of GDP.
There has been a widening gap between the growth of GDP and employment during this period. This means that in the Indian economy, without generating employment we have been able to produce more goods and services. Scholars refer to this phenomenon ‘jobless growth’

Question: Since independence the union and State governments have played an important role in generating employment or creating opportunities for employment generation. Their efforts can be broadly categorized into direct and indirect Explain them.
Answer:
Direct generation of employment opportunities: The Government employs people in various departments for administrative purposes. It also runs industries, hotels and transport companies and hence provides employment directly to workers.
• Indirect generation of employment opportunities: When the output of goods and services from government enterprises increases, then private enterprises which receive raw materials from government enterprises will also raise their output and hence increase the number of employment opportunities in the economy. This is the indirect generation of employment opportunities by the government initiatives in the economy.

6 Mark Questions

Question: The has been a change in the structure of workforce and the nature of employment in India. Explain.
Answer:
There has been a change in the structure of work force and the nature employment in India
1) Newly emerging jobs are found mostly in the service sector. The expansion of service sector and advent of technology now frequently permit a highly competitive existence for efficient small scale and often individual enterprises or specialist workers side by side with multinationals.
2) Outsourcing of workers has become a common practice. It means that a big firm find it profitable to close down some of the specialist departments (for example legal or computer programming or customer service sections) and handover a large number of small piecemeal jobs to very small enterprises or specialist individuals sometimes situated even in other countries.
3) The traditional notion of modern factory or office as a result has been altering in such a manner that for many the home is becoming the workplace. All of this change has not gone in favour of the individual worker.
4) The nature of employment has become more informal with only limited availability of social security measures to the workers.
5) In the last two decades there has been a rapid growth in the gross domestic product, but without simultaneous increase in employment opportunities. This has forced the government to take up initiatives in generating employment opportunities, particularly in the rural areas.

Question: Table shows the distribution of workforce in India for the 1972-73 analyses it and give reasons for the nature of workforce distribution.

Answer: From the given table following points can be noticed about the nature of workforce distribution:
1) Majority of the workforce was working in the rural areas in India in the year 1972-73. The total workforce was 234million out of which 195 million workers were from rural areas and 39 million from the urban areas. Thus about 83 % of the total workforce was rural as compared to about 17 % of the urban workforce. The reason for this was that a majority of population was living in rural areas and were engaged in agricultural and allied sectors
2) The rural workforce comprises about 64 % of the male workforce and about 36% of the female workforce.
On the other hand, the urban workforce comprises of about 82 % of male workforce and about 18 % of female workforce.
This shows that participation of males and both rural as well as urban areas is higher than that of the females because of lack of opportunities available to women for acquiring education and also the social structure and family norms which did not encourage women to work
3) Another feature of workforce distribution is the difference between urban female workforce and rural female workforce. Females in the rural areas form 36%t of the workforce whereas the females in the urban areas formed only 18 % of the workforce. This may be attributed to the fact that where men are able to earn high incomes, families discourage female members from taking up jobs. Earnings of urban male workers are generally higher than rural males and so the urban families do not want females to work.

Question: Discuss the different types of unemployment prevailing in India
Answer: Different types of unemployment in India are
➢ Open unemployment: In many cities we find people standing in some selected areas looking for people to employ them for that day's work. Some go to factories and offices to give their bio-data and ask whether there is any vacancy in their factory or office. Many in the rural areas do not go out and ask for a job but stay home when there is no work. Some go to employment exchanges and register themselves for vacancies notified through employment exchanges. This is called open unemployment
➢ Disguised unemployment. Suppose a farmer has four acres of land and he actually needs only two workers and himself to carry out various operations in a year, He employs five workers and his family members such as his wife and children. This situation is known as disguised unemployment.
➢ Seasonal unemployment: Many People migrate to an urban area, pick up a job and stay there for some time, and then come back to their home villages. This is because work in agriculture is seasonal; there are no employment opportunities in the village for all months in the year. When there is no work to do on farms, people go to urban areas and look for jobs. This kind of unemployment is known as seasonal unemployment.

CASE BASED QUESTIONS.

Workers in formal and informal sectors.
We classify workers into two categories: workers in formal and informal sectors which are also referred to as organized and unorganized sectors. All the public sector establishments and those private-sector establishments which employ 10 hired workers or more are called formal sector establishments and those who work in such establishments are formal sector worker.
The workers in the formal sector get regular income. They also enjoy social security benefits such as maternity benefit, provident fund, gratuity and pension. They earn more than those in the informal sector. The government through its labour laws, enable them to protect their rights in various ways. The formal sector workers form trade unions bargaining with employers for better wages and other social security measures.
All those who work in the areas other than formal sector comes under Informal sector Informal sector, which includes millions of farmers and agricultural labourers, owners of small enterprises and people working in those enterprises, the self-employed people who do not have any hired workers, all non from casual wage labourers who work for more than one employer such as construction workers and head load workers.

Question: Find out the incorrect statement from the following
a) The government, through its labour laws, enable the formal sector workers to protect their rights in various ways.
b) Workers in the formal sector earn more than those in the informal sector.
c) A person working in the private sector get a lower salary as compared to another person doing the same work in the public sector
d) Workers in formal sector are prohibited from forming trade unions.
Answer: D

Question: Find out who among the following comes under informal sector
a. Nurse in a government hospital
b. A clerk in the electricity office.
c. Computer operator in the state government office working on a temporary basis
d. The owner of a textile shop which has nine workers
Answer: D

Question: ____________ is the major formal sector employer in the country.
a) Private schools
b) Airline companies
c) Government
d) Multi-National Companies
Answer: C

Question: How will you know whether a worker is working in the informal sector?
a) Works in a private sector establishment which employ more than 10 hired workers
b) Works in a private sector establishment which employ less than 10 hired workers
c) Works in a public sector establishment
d) Earns higher than organized sector workers
Answer: B
 

2. Read the following News report and Answer: the following questions on the basis of same:

India's unemployment rate shot up to 7.8% for the week ended November 22 compared to 5.5% in the preceding week, signaling weakening of labour market.
Labour participation rate fell to 39.3% resulting in a sharp fall of 114 basis points in employment rate at 36.24%, data from the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy showed (CMIE).
While this was a sign of weakening labour markets over the last four weeks, it also reflected the inability of the labour markets to absorb adequate proportions of tne working age population during the festive season of 2020, the CMIE said
"The sharp rise of the unemployment, rate is against the trend seen since the recovery has been one of falling unemployment rates with an occasional spike which happened during the first fortnight of October 10”, it said. As per CMIE, the 36.2% employment rate in the week of November 22 is the lowest employment rate since the recovery stagnated in late June 2020.
It also marked the fourth consecutive fall in the rate since the week of October 25. It also marked the fourth consecutive fall in the rate since the week of October 25. The employment rate stood at 37.38% in the week ended November 15.
The deterioration of labour metrics in November is a signal again of the early exhaustion of the recovery process that began in late May this year", it said.
The recovery is not complete. The employment rate never reached its pre-lockdown II levels. And before reaching there, it has started to decline again".
According to CMIE, the employment rate is the best measure of the health of the Indian economy as it measures the proportion of the working age population that are employed

Question: Rise in unemployment rate for the week ended in the month of November 22,signals weakening of________ (commodity/labour) market.
Answer: labour market

Question: Rise in unemployment rate is an indicator of incomplete _________ (recovery/recession) period since May, 2020.
Answer: recovery

Question: Worker participation ratio is calculated by dividing the total number of workers in India by the total _________ (population/labour force) in India and then multiplying by 100.
Answer: population

Question: Measure to reduce unemployment in very short period of time
(a) Reduction in inequalities in the distribution of income and wealth
(b) Increase in investment in private and public sectors
(c) Reduction in growth of population
(d) None of these
Answer: B

3. Read the following News report and Answer: the following questions on the basis of same:

The pandemic had an impact on employment in the country as the economic activities
slowed down due to lockdown restrictions imposed to contain the spread of COVID from March in 2020. The Parliament Standing Committee on Labour has been drawn to a study according to which nearly half of the formal salaried workers moved into
informal work either as self-employed (30 per cent), casual wage (10 per cent),
informal salaried jobs (9 per cent) between late 2019 and late 2020. Employees'
Provident Fund Organization (EPFO) needs to play a more innovative and proactive role in mitigating the emergent needs of not only the members registered with it but
Workers in the Unorganized sectors too.
Source: Business-standard.com, Aug. 8, 2021

Question: Pandemic affected employment __________ (positively/adversely) as the economic activities had slowed down due to lockdown.
Answer: adversely

Question: There has been movement of formal workers towards _________.
a) self-employment
b) casual-wage employment
c) both (a) and (b)
d) neither (a) nor (b)
Answer: C

Question: ________ (Casual/Regular) workers have weak bargaining power as they cannot form trade unions.
Answer: Casual

Question: Employee’s Provident Fund Organization makes provision of
a) wages and salaries to employees
b) non-monetary benefits to employees
c) social security benefits to employees
d) none of these
Answer: C

* Work plays an important role in our lives, as individuals and as members of society.
* A worker is an individual , who is involved in some productive activity, to earn a living,
* An economic activity refers to the activity performed by people to earn the living. The main three types of economic activities are consumption, production and distribution.
* Production activity refers to all those activities which are under taken to produce goods and services for generation of income.

Labour force : All persons, who are working (have a job) and those are not working but able to work and willing to work at the existing wage rate constitute labour force.
Labour Force : Persons working + persons seeking and / or available for work.
Work force : The number of persons, who are actually employed at a particular time are known as workforce, It includes all those persons who are actually engaged in productive activities.
Labour supply - It refers to amount of labour that people are willing to offer corresponding to a particular wage rate.

* About two fifth of the total population in the country in engaged in various economic activities.
* Men particularly rural men, form the major section of workforce in India.
* Majority of workers in India are self employed casual wage labourers and regular salaried employees together account for less than half the proportion of India’s workforce.
* About three fifth of India’s workforce depends on agriculture and other allied activities as the major source of livelihood.
* Jobless Growth : It is defined as a situation where GDP grows faster than the employment opprotunities resulting in unemployment.
* Casualisation and informalisation of employment. Casualisatoin refers to a situation when the percentage of casually hired workers in the total workforce tends to rise over time.

Informalisation : refers to a situation when people tend to find employment more in informal sector of the economy, and less in formal sector of the economy.

(Formal or organised sector, informal of unorganised sector)

Causes of unemployment

* Slow rate of economic growth
* Population explosion
* Underdeveloped agriculture
* Defective educational system
* Slow growth of Industry
* Decline of collage and small industry.
* Faulty planning
* Inadequate employment planning.
* Low capital formation.

ONE MARK QUESTION

Question 1. Who is worker?
Answer: A worker is an individual who is doing some productive employment to earn a living.
In simple words: A worker is anyone who works to produce goods or services to earn money.

Exam Tip: Mention the keywords productive employment and earning a living to score full marks.

Question 2. Define GDP
Answer: Sum total of the goods and services produced in the economy during a year is called GDP.
In simple words: GDP is the total monetary value of all finished goods and services produced within a country in a year.

Exam Tip: Always include the time period of one year while defining Gross Domestic Product.

Question 3. What is an economic activity?
Answer: All activities which contribute to gross national product through production of goods and services are called economic activities.
In simple words: An economic activity is any activity done for money or to earn a livelihood.

Exam Tip: Note that economic activities are distinct from non-economic activities like hobbies or charity.

Question 4. Define self employed workers?
Answer: Self employed workers are those who work in their own business or profession and get profit as their reward.
In simple words: Workers who manage their own enterprises instead of working for an employer are self-employed.

Exam Tip: Highlight that profit is their primary reward, unlike wages or salaries received by hired workers.

Question 5. Define participation ratio.
Answer: Participation ratio is defined as the percentage of total population which is actually participating in productive activity. It is also called workers population ratio.
\(\text{Participation Rate} = \frac{\text{Workforce}}{\text{Total Population}} \times 100\)
In simple words: It shows the proportion of the population that is actively engaged in work.

Exam Tip: Memorize the formula as numerical questions or ratio interpretations are frequently asked.

Question 6. Give three sources that collect data on unemployment.
Answer: 
(a) Reports of Census of India.
(b) National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO) reports of employment and unemployment situation.
(c) Directorate General of Employment and Training (DGET) data of registration with employment exchanges.
In simple words: Official government reports and surveys are the main sources for employment data in India.

Exam Tip: Mention NSSO and Census as primary agencies for high-scoring answers.

Question 7. Define job less growth.
Answer: Jobless growth is defined as a situation in which there is an overall acceleration in the growth rate of GDP in the economy which is not accompanied by a commensurate expansion in employment opportunities.
In simple words: It is a scenario where the economy's output increases, but employment does not grow at the same pace.

Exam Tip: Emphasize the mismatch between GDP growth rate and employment generation.

Question 8. Define casualisation.
Answer: Casualisation is defined as a situation in which percentage of casually hired workers in the workforce tends to grow overtime.
In simple words: A trend where more workers become daily wage or temporary workers rather than permanent employees.

Question 9. Are the following workers - a beggar, a thief, a smuggler, a gambler? Why?
Answer: No, they are not workers, as they are not doing any productive work.
In simple words: Their activities are illegal or non-productive, so they do not contribute to economic production.

Exam Tip: Clarify that productive economic activity must be legally and socially recognized.

Question 10. What is informalisation of workforce?
Answer: Informalisation of work force refers to a situation whereby the proportion of workforce in the informal sector to total workforce increases.
In simple words: An increase in the share of workers employed in the unorganized or informal sector.

Exam Tip: Mention the movement of workers from formal to informal sectors over time.

Question 11. Why is self-employed workforce higher in rural areas?
Answer: In case of rural areas, self-employed workers are greater as majority of rural people are engaged in farming on their own plots of land.
In simple words: Most rural people work on their own agricultural land, making them self-employed.

Exam Tip: Agriculture and land ownership are the key reasons for high self-employment in rural regions.

Question 12. Name the two kinds of urban unemployment.
Answer: 
(i) Industrial unemployment
(ii) Educated unemployment
In simple words: City unemployment mainly affects factory job seekers and educated degree holders.

Question 13. Give the meaning of disguised unemployment.
Answer: Disguised unemployment refers to a state in which more people are engaged in work than are really needed.
In simple words: Even if some workers are removed, total production remains unchanged.

Exam Tip: State that marginal productivity of such extra workers is zero.

Question 14. Who are included in labour force?
Answer: All persons, who are working (have a job) and those who are not working but are seeking and are available for work, are deemed to be in the labour force.
\(\text{Labour Force} = \text{Persons working} + \text{Persons seeking and/or available for work}\)
In simple words: Total working people plus unemployed people looking for work form the labour force.

Exam Tip: Remember that people not willing to work are excluded from the labour force.

Question 15. Give the meaning of work force?
Answer: The number of persons, who are actually employed at a particular time are known as workforce.
In simple words: Workforce consists strictly of those who currently have jobs.

Exam Tip: Do not confuse workforce with labour force; workforce excludes unemployed job seekers.

Question 16. Define worker - population ratio.
Answer: Worker population ratio is the percentage of total population engaged in work.
In simple words: It tells us how many people out of every 100 are actually working.

Exam Tip: Mention the ratio helps in understanding employment levels relative to total population size.

Question 17. Who is casual wage labourer?
Answer: Workers who are not hired by their employers on a regular or permanent basis (i.e. do not have job security) and do not get social security benefits, are formed as casual wage labour.
In simple words: Daily wagers or temporary workers hired on a project or day-to-day basis.

Exam Tip: Highlight lack of job security and absence of social security benefits.

Question 18. How will you know whether a worker is worker in the informal sector?
Answer: It is an unorganised sector of an economy which includes all those private sector enterprises which employ less than 10 workers.
In simple words: Informal sector workers lack formal contracts, fixed terms, and government regulation, often working in small enterprises.

Exam Tip: Mention the enterprise size criterion (less than 10 workers) as a standard classification indicator.

Question 19. Why are regular salaried employees more in urban areas than in rural areas?
Answer: Regular salaried employees are more in urban areas as a considerable section of urban people are able to study in various education institutions and it enables them to look for an appropriate job to suit their qualification and skill.
In simple words: Better education and diverse industries in cities create more formal salaried jobs.

Exam Tip: Connect urban education infrastructure with the availability of skilled, salaried employment.

Question 20. Why do we differentiate between economic activity and production activity?
Answer: We differentiate to calculate the number of workers. People engaged only in production economic activities are to be included in the category of workers.
In simple words: It helps us precisely identify and count individuals contributing directly to the generation of goods, services, and income.

Exam Tip: Emphasize measurement and accounting accuracy in national income and employment statistics.

SHORT ANSWER QUESTIONS (03-04 MARKS)

Question 1. What is the difference between labour force and work force?
Answer: 
1. Labour Force: It includes all persons who are working (have a job) and those who are not working but are able and willing to work at the existing wage rate.
2. Workforce: It includes only the number of persons who are actually employed at a particular time.
3. Formula Relationship: Labour Force = Workforce + Persons seeking/available for work.
In simple words: Workforce is a part of the larger labour force that actually has employment.

Exam Tip: Present the differences using clear bullet points and the mathematical formula for full marks.

Question 2. Discuss the two main forms of wage employment.
Answer: Wage employment is broadly classified into two main forms:
1. Regular Salaried Employees: These workers are hired on a permanent basis, receive regular monthly salaries, enjoy job security, and are entitled to social security benefits like provident fund and medical insurance.
2. Casual Wage Labourers: These workers are casually hired on a daily or project basis. They do not have job security, regular income, or social security benefits.
In simple words: Wage employment is either permanent and secure (regular) or temporary and insecure (casual).

Exam Tip: Contrast job security and social benefits between regular and casual wage employment.

Question 3. Analyse the recent trends in sectoral distribution of workforce in India.
Answer: Over the years, the sectoral distribution of workforce in India has shown notable structural shifts:
1. Dependence on Agriculture: Agriculture and allied activities remain the major source of livelihood, employing about three-fifths of India's workforce, though its share has been gradually declining.
2. Growth in Secondary and Tertiary Sectors: The share of workforce in the secondary (manufacturing and industry) and tertiary (services) sectors has been steadily increasing.
3. Shift towards Informal Employment: A large proportion of the workforce shifting to non-farm sectors is absorbed mainly by the informal/unorganized sector, leading to informalisation.
In simple words: Workers are slowly moving away from agriculture toward industry and services, though farming still employs the majority.

Exam Tip: Mention the three main sectors (Primary, Secondary, Tertiary) and highlight the declining dependence on agriculture.

Question 4. Discuss the two types of rural unemployment.
Answer: The two main types of rural unemployment are:
1. Seasonal Unemployment: This occurs when people are unemployed during certain seasons of the year, particularly in agriculture due to its seasonal nature (e.g., between sowing and harvesting seasons).
2. Disguised Unemployment: This occurs when more people are engaged in an activity (like farming on a small family plot) than are actually needed. Even if some workers are withdrawn, total output remains the same.
In simple words: Rural unemployment happens either due to off-seasons in farming or when extra family members work on the same land without adding output.

Exam Tip: Define seasonal unemployment with agricultural cycles and disguised unemployment with zero marginal productivity.

Question 5. How does the government generate employment?
Answer: The government generates employment through direct and indirect measures:
1. Direct Employment: By directly employing people in administrative departments, public sector undertakings (PSUs), railways, schools, and hospitals.
2. Indirect Employment: By promoting economic growth, encouraging small-scale industries and micro-enterprises, investing in infrastructure (roads, power, irrigation), and implementing special employment generation programmes.
3. Poverty Alleviation Schemes: Launching special guarantee schemes like NREG to ensure wage employment in rural areas.
In simple words: The government creates jobs by hiring people directly in public services and by boosting business, infrastructure, and special employment schemes.

Question 6. Explain classification of workforce.
Answer: The workforce in an economy is classified into various categories based on employment status and sector:
1. Self-Employed: Workers who run their own businesses or farms and earn profits.
2. Hired Workers: Workers employed by others and paid wages or salaries, further divided into:
- Casual Workers (daily wagers without job security)
- Regular Workers (salaried employees with job security and benefits)
3. Sectoral Classification: Distributed across Primary (agriculture), Secondary (industry), and Tertiary (services) sectors, as well as Formal and Informal sectors.
In simple words: Workers are classified by whether they work for themselves or others, and by the economic sector they belong to.

Exam Tip: Draw a brief flowchart or structural breakdown in your mind to cover status, type of hiring, and economic sectors.

Question 7. Give a brief note on the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act 2005.
Answer: 
1. Objective: The National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005 (NREGA) aims to enhance livelihood security in rural areas by guaranteeing at least 100 days of wage employment in a financial year to every household whose adult members volunteer to do unskilled manual work.
2. Key Features: It promotes sustainable development, addresses rural poverty, and empowers rural households. If employment is not provided within 15 days, applicants are entitled to an unemployment allowance.
In simple words: NREGA 2005 guarantees 100 days of manual wage work every year to rural households that need it.

Exam Tip: Remember the 100 days guarantee and unskilled manual work criteria as key components.

Question 8. Suggest general measures to control unemployment.
Answer: General measures to control unemployment include:
1. Accelerating GDP Growth: Promoting rapid economic growth across all sectors to expand job opportunities.
2. Population Control: Implementing effective family planning measures to check rapid population growth.
3. Promotion of Small-Scale Industries: Encouraging cottage and small-scale enterprises which are labor-intensive.
4. Educational Reforms: Reforming the educational system to make it vocational and skill-oriented.
5. Infrastructure Development: Heavy investment in power, transport, irrigation, and communication.
In simple words: To control unemployment, we need faster economic growth, population control, skill-based education, and support for small businesses.

Exam Tip: List at least 4 to 5 distinct points covering economic, demographic, and educational measures.

Question 9. What are the adverse effects of unemployment.
Answer: The adverse effects of unemployment are:
1. Economic Loss: Wastage of valuable human resources and reduction in national output/GDP.
2. Poverty and Inequality: Lack of income leads to poverty, low standard of living, and wider income inequalities.
3. Social Unrest: Frustration among unemployed youth can lead to crimes, drug abuse, and social tensions.
4. Psychological Stress: Causes depression, loss of self-confidence, and mental distress among individuals and families.
In simple words: Unemployment causes poverty, wastes human talent, increases crime, and creates mental stress.

Exam Tip: Categorize effects into economic, social, and psychological impacts for a well-structured answer.

Question 10. Write a short note on informal sector. What are the problems being faced by the workers of informal sector?
Answer: 
1. Meaning: The informal sector includes all private enterprises employing less than 10 workers, operating without formal registration, government regulation, or standard labor laws.
2. Problems Faced by Workers:
- Lack of job security and written contracts.
- Absence of social security benefits (provident fund, gratuity, paid leave, medical care).
- Low wages and long, unregulated working hours.
- Poor and hazardous working conditions.
In simple words: Informal sector workers lack job security, proper wages, and social benefits, and often work in unsafe conditions.

Question 11. Discuss the three concepts of unemployment used by National Sample Survey Organisation.
Answer: The National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO) uses three concepts to measure unemployment:
1. Usual Status Unemployment: Measures chronic unemployment by considering persons who remained unemployed for a major part of the preceding year.
2. Current Weekly Status (CWS) Unemployment: Measures unemployment with respect to a reference period of one week. A person is considered unemployed if they did not work even for one hour during the week but sought work.
3. Current Daily Status (CDS) Unemployment: Measures unemployment on a daily basis, accounting for part-time employment and varying work availability across days in a week.
In simple words: NSSO measures unemployment over a year (usual), a week (weekly), or each day (daily).

Exam Tip: Clearly state the reference periods: 1 year for Usual Status, 1 week for CWS, and daily basis for CDS.

LONG ANSWER QUESTIONS (06 MARKS)

Question 1. What are the various types of unemployment?
Answer: Unemployment manifests in various forms across rural and urban economies:
1. Seasonal Unemployment: Occurs during specific seasons when demand for labor drops, common in agriculture.
2. Disguised Unemployment: Occurs when more people are engaged in work than required; marginal productivity is zero.
3. Open Unemployment: A situation where able-bodied persons willing to work at prevailing wages fail to find any job.
4. Educated Unemployment: Unemployment prevalent among educated youth holding degrees or diplomas due to a mismatch between education and job market demand.
5. Industrial Unemployment: Unemployment among industrial workers migrating from rural to urban areas seeking factory jobs.
6. Frictional and Structural Unemployment: Caused by temporary job transitions or structural shifts in technology and demand.
In simple words: Unemployment can be seasonal, disguised, open, educated, industrial, or structural depending on its cause and nature.

Exam Tip: Group your points into rural (seasonal, disguised) and urban (educated, industrial) types to provide a comprehensive 6-mark answer.

Question 2. What role does the government play in generating employment opportunities?
Answer: The government plays a pivotal role in employment generation through multifaceted interventions:
1. Direct Public Sector Employment: Hiring personnel across government administration, public sector undertakings, railways, defence, and public educational and healthcare institutions.
2. Infrastructure Investment: Massive capital expenditure on roads, railways, power grids, irrigation, and telecommunications stimulates construction and ancillary industries.
3. Promotion of MSMEs: Providing financial subsidies, tax concessions, and technical support to Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) which are highly labor-intensive.
4. Skill Development Initiatives: Launching nationwide skill training programs to bridge the gap between industry requirements and job seeker capabilities.
5. Employment Guarantee Schemes: Implementing legislative measures like NREG to guarantee minimum wage employment in rural areas.
In simple words: Government creates jobs by hiring directly, building infrastructure, supporting small businesses, training workers, and running employment schemes.

Exam Tip: Use headings like Direct Employment, Infrastructure, MSMEs, and Schemes to structure your 6-mark answer effectively.

Question 3. What are the causes of unemployment?
Answer: The major causes of unemployment in India are:
1. Slow Rate of Economic Growth: Economic growth has not kept pace with the rapid growth of the labor force.
2. Population Explosion: Rapid population growth continually expands the size of the labor force, outstripping job creation.
3. Underdeveloped Agriculture: Heavy dependence on monsoon-fed, seasonal agriculture lacking modern multi-cropping facilities.
4. Defective Educational System: General education lacks practical vocational and technical skill training, creating unemployable graduates.
5. Slow Growth of Industry: Industrial growth has been sluggish, constrained by infrastructure bottlenecks and regulatory hurdles.
6. Decline of Cottage and Small Industries: Traditional village industries faced stiff competition from mechanized mass production.
7. Low Capital Formation: Insufficient savings and investment limit the expansion of productive capacities.
In simple words: Unemployment is caused by slow economic growth, high population, poor agriculture, impractical education, and sluggish industry.

Exam Tip: List at least 5 to 6 well-explained headings to secure full marks in long-answer questions.

Question 4. Explain informalisation of workforce.
Answer: 
1. Concept: Informalisation of the workforce refers to a situation where the proportion of workers in the informal (unorganized) sector increases relative to the formal (organized) sector.
2. Characteristics of Informal Sector: Enterprises with fewer than 10 workers, operating without formal registration, labor laws, or statutory oversight.
3. Reasons for Informalisation:
- Outsourcing and subcontracting by large formal enterprises to cut labor costs.
- Lack of adequate job creation in the organized sector.
- Influx of unskilled rural migrants into urban areas.
4. Consequences: Leaves workers vulnerable without job security, legal protection, minimum wages, or social security benefits.
In simple words: Informalisation means more people are working in unorganized jobs without legal security, benefits, or fixed contracts.

Exam Tip: Define informalisation clearly, state reasons, and explain its negative consequences on labor welfare.

Question 5. Explain occupational structure of workforce.
Answer: 
1. Meaning: Occupational structure refers to the distribution of a country's workforce across different occupations and economic sectors (Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary).
2. Primary Sector (Agriculture and Allied): Traditionally employs the largest share of India's workforce (about three-fifths), though productivity and income levels remain relatively low.
3. Secondary Sector (Manufacturing, Construction, Industry): Absorbs workers in manufacturing, mining, and construction; its share has seen slow but steady growth.
4. Tertiary Sector (Services, Trade, Transport, IT): Encompasses trade, transport, banking, public administration, and professional services, representing a rapidly expanding segment.
5. Significance: An analysis of occupational structure reveals the level of economic development; advanced economies feature a low share in agriculture and high shares in industry and services.
In simple words: Occupational structure shows how workers are divided among farming, industry, and services, reflecting economic development.

Question 6. What do you mean by organised sector? Discuss the reasons for fall in employment in the organised sector.
Answer: 
1. Organised Sector: Includes all enterprises employing 10 or more workers, registered with the government, adhering to labor laws, providing regular wages, job security, and social security benefits.
2. Reasons for Fall in Employment in the Organised Sector:
- Technological Advancement: Automation and computerization reduce the need for manual labor in manufacturing and offices.
- Outsourcing and Casualisation: Organized firms increasingly subcontract work to informal enterprises or hire casual/contract labor to reduce production costs.
- Rigid Labor Laws: Strict regulations regarding retrenchment discourage formal hiring.
- Competitive Pressure: Global competition forces enterprises to optimize costs, leading to leaner workforces.
In simple words: The organized sector provides secure jobs with benefits, but employment in it has fallen due to automation, outsourcing, and cost-cutting.

Exam Tip: Define the organized sector first, then analyze automation and cost-cutting as primary reasons for falling formal employment.

Question 7. Discuss the various remedial measures, which are needed to solve the problem of unemployment in India.
Answer: To effectively tackle unemployment in India, a multi-pronged strategy is required:
1. Accelerating Economic Growth: Boosting GDP growth rate across agriculture, industry, and service sectors to generate diverse employment opportunities.
2. Population Control: Implementing effective family welfare policies to curb population growth and ease pressure on the labor market.
3. Promotion of Small-Scale and Cottage Industries: Encouraging labor-intensive MSMEs through financial credit, subsidies, and marketing support.
4. Vocationalization of Education: Reforming educational curricula to impart practical skills and technical training suited to industry needs.
5. Infrastructure Development: Heavy investments in rural infrastructure (roads, electricity, cold storage, irrigation) to stimulate rural non-farm employment.
6. Effective Implementation of Employment Schemes: Expanding programs like NREGA and skill mission initiatives to guarantee livelihood security.
In simple words: Solving unemployment requires faster economic growth, population control, support for small businesses, skill education, and infrastructure development.

Exam Tip: Structure your answer with clear sub-headings like Economic Growth, Education Reform, MSMEs, and Infrastructure.

Question 8. What do you mean by casualisation of workforce? Discuss the concept with relevant facts.
Answer: 
1. Meaning: Casualisation of workforce refers to a structural trend where the proportion of casually hired workers in the total workforce tends to increase over time relative to regular salaried employees.
2. Relevant Facts and Context:
- In India, a major portion of the workforce depends on daily wage labor or casual work.
- Economic reforms and industrial restructuring have led enterprises to prefer flexible, temporary labor over permanent hiring.
- Casual workers lack job security, paid leave, medical benefits, and social security.
- This trend exacerbates income insecurity and vulnerability among working-class households.
In simple words: Casualisation is the growing trend of employers hiring daily wagers instead of permanent staff, leading to job insecurity.

Exam Tip: Highlight the loss of job security and absence of social benefits as key implications of casualisation.

Question 9. Discuss the distribution of employment in different sectors of economy.
Answer: 
1. Overview: The distribution of employment across economic sectors reflects the structural characteristics of India's economy.
2. Primary Sector (Agriculture and Allied): Remains the largest employer, accounting for about three-fifths of the total workforce, though its contribution to GDP has declined significantly.
3. Secondary Sector (Manufacturing, Construction, Industry): Absorbs a relatively smaller share of the workforce (around 15-20%), with construction emerging as a major employment provider among non-farm activities.
4. Tertiary Sector (Services): Includes trade, transport, storage, and professional services, showing steady growth and absorbing a growing share of educated urban and rural youth.
5. Regional Disparities: Rural areas remain heavily dependent on agriculture, whereas urban areas are dominated by tertiary and secondary sector employment.
In simple words: Most Indians work in agriculture (primary sector), while industry and services employ the rest, with services growing rapidly.

Question 10. Discuss the concept of frictional and structural unemployment.
Answer: 
1. Frictional Unemployment:
- Refers to temporary unemployment that occurs when workers transition between jobs, searching for better opportunities, or due to voluntary resignation.
- It is a natural feature of a dynamic labor market and reflects normal job mobility.
2. Structural Unemployment:
- Occurs due to long-term structural changes in the economy, such as technological advancements, shifts in consumer demand, or industrial obsolescence.
- Workers lose jobs because their existing skills do not match the requirements of new technologies or industries.
3. Comparison: Frictional unemployment is short-term and results from job-switching, whereas structural unemployment is long-term and stems from fundamental economic mismatches.
In simple words: Frictional unemployment happens during job changes, while structural unemployment happens when skills no longer match market needs due to technology changes.

Exam Tip: Distinguish frictional unemployment (temporary transition) from structural unemployment (skill/technology mismatch) for full marks.