Even as unemployment falls, lack of ‘decent work’ in India

1. At a Glance

• Core paradox: India's unemployment rate fell from 6.1% (2017-18) to 3.2% (2023-24), but most of the new jobs are poor quality: informal, insecure and without social security. [1]
• Decent work (ILO definition): employment that offers equitable income, workplace rights, social security and dignity. It is built into SDG-8, which calls for "decent work for all". [1]
• Why it matters: the size of employment (how many people have jobs) is not the same as its quality. Workers without social security spend less, save less and are more exposed to economic shocks, and this slows growth. [1]
• UPSC relevance: the topic links labour statistics (PLFS), gender (female labour force participation), the informal sector, the gig economy, the Labour Codes and the SDGs. It falls under GS-III (Economy) and GS-II (welfare of vulnerable sections).

2. Why in the News

• The Hindu's analysis (print edition of 2 November 2026, p. 10) built a multidimensional Decent Work Index (DWI) from two PLFS rounds, 2017-18 and 2023-24. It found that the labour market "persistently exhibits high levels of informality, insecure employment, and increasing inequalities". [1]
• The analysis comes after government documents reported falling unemployment and the first rise in female workforce participation in decades. [1]
• The PLFS annual report for July 2023–June 2024, released by MoSPI, is the official data the debate rests on. [2][3]

3. Background & Evolution

• Decent work concept: set out by the ILO and later built into SDG-8 (2030 Agenda). [1]
• 2017-18: first annual round of the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS), which is the baseline year in the analysis. Unemployment rate (UR) was 6.1%. [1] Female LFPR was 23.3% and female UR was 5.6%. [4]
• 2020: Code on Social Security enacted. It consolidates social security laws for both the organised and unorganised sectors. [6]
• 2023-27: ILO–India Decent Work Country Programme (DWCP), drawn up through tripartite consultation among government, workers and employers. It makes social security a priority. [7][8][9]
• 2024: the ILO India Employment Report 2024 (theme: youth employment, education and skills) said about 90% of workers are still informal and that gig and platform work has spread with little social security. [5]
• 2023-24 PLFS: UR was 3.2% and female LFPR was 41.7%. [2][3]
• 2026: The Hindu published its DWI-based critique. [1]

4. Core Static Facts

Item	Fact	Source
Decent work (ILO)	Equitable income + workplace rights + social security + dignity	[1]
Linked SDG	SDG-8: "Decent work for all" (Decent Work and Economic Growth)	[1]
Data source	PLFS, conducted by MoSPI	[2][3]
Reference period of 2023-24 PLFS	July 2023 – June 2024	[3]
UR, usual status (ps+ss), age 15+, 2023-24	3.2% for both male and female	[3]
UR trend	6.1% (2017-18) → 3.2% (2023-24)	[1]
LFPR 2023-24, age 15+	Male 78.8%; Female 41.7%	[3]
Female LFPR 2017-18	23.3%	[4]
Female WPR	35.9% (2022-23) → 40.3% (2023-24)	[3]
Female UR	Rose from 2.9% (2022-23) to 3.2% (2023-24)	[3]
Male UR	Fell slightly from 3.3% to 3.2%	[3]
Informality	About 90% of workers are informal (ILO IER 2024)	[5]
DWI (Hindu analysis)	Three sub-dimensions, starting with employment status and employment opportunity (the excerpt is cut off before the third)	[1]
Social security law	Code on Social Security, 2020 (organised + unorganised sectors)	[6]
ILO–India framework	DWCP 2023-27, tripartite, social security a priority	[7][9]

Key terms:

• LFPR: share of the population that is working or looking for work.
• WPR: share of the population that is employed.
• UR: unemployed as a share of the labour force.
• Usual status (ps+ss): principal status plus subsidiary status.

5. Multi-Dimensional Analysis

Economic

• Low unemployment can sit alongside poor-quality jobs. This happens in an economy where few people can afford to stay unemployed, so many take whatever informal work exists. [1]
• Workers without social security spend less and save less. This weakens consumption-led growth and household resilience. [1]
• About 90% of workers are informal [5], which limits productivity gains, the tax base and how well social protection can be targeted.

Social / Gender

• Female WPR rose from 35.9% to 40.3% in one year [3], and female LFPR rose from 23.3% (2017-18) to 41.7% (2023-24) [3][4]. The open question is the quality of this work, for example garment sewing without a contract. [1]
• Female UR rose from 2.9% to 3.2% even as male UR fell [3]. More women are entering the labour force than the market can absorb.
• The analysis records increasing inequalities in job quality. [1]

Legal / Constitutional

• The Code on Social Security, 2020 was designed to cover unorganised and gig workers. [6]
• Relevant DPSP links (static knowledge): Art. 39, 41, 42 and 43 cover a living wage, just and humane conditions of work, and public assistance.

Governance / Administrative

• Decent-work strategy is set through tripartite consultation under the DWCP 2023-27. [9]
• ILO projects in India cover social protection for gig and platform workers [6], formalisation of domestic workers [10], and the PRS project (Promoting Rights and Social Inclusion through Organisation and Formalisation), Phase 2, covering India, Nepal and Pakistan [10].
• Measurement gap: headline PLFS indicators (UR, LFPR, WPR) do not capture job quality. Composite indices such as the DWI try to fill that gap. [1]

Technological (Gig economy)

• Platform work is growing but has "few social security provisions". [5][6]
• Example: a gig worker without insurance counts as "employed" but is not doing decent work. [1]

6. Recent Developments (last 12-18 months)

• 2 Nov 2026: The Hindu publishes its DWI analysis based on PLFS 2017-18 and 2023-24. [1]
• 2024–26: ILO projects on social protection for gig/platform workers and on formalising domestic work continue in India. [6][10]
• DWCP 2023-27 is now in its later phase. [9]
• The retrieved sources do not cover other 2025-26 events, such as later PLFS releases or Labour Code rules. Check these separately.

7. Prelims Hooks

• India's UR fell from 6.1% in 2017-18 to 3.2% in 2023-24 (PLFS, usual status). [1]
• In PLFS 2023-24, UR (ps+ss, age 15+) was 3.2% for both males and females. [3]
• PLFS 2023-24 covers July 2023 – June 2024, not April–March. [3]
• PLFS is conducted by MoSPI, not the Ministry of Labour & Employment. [2][3]
• Female LFPR in 2023-24 was 41.7%; male LFPR was 78.8%. [3]
• Female LFPR was 23.3% in 2017-18. [4]
• Female WPR rose from 35.9% to 40.3% between 2022-23 and 2023-24. [3]
• Female UR increased from 2.9% to 3.2% in 2023-24. [3]
• The ILO defines decent work as equitable income, workplace rights, social security and dignity. [1]
• Decent work is the focus of SDG-8. [1]
• The ILO India Employment Report 2024 puts informal workers at about 90% of the workforce. [5]
• The Code on Social Security, 2020 covers both organised and unorganised sectors. [6]
• The India Decent Work Country Programme runs from 2023 to 2027 and is tripartite. [9]
• The ILO PRS Phase 2 project covers India, Nepal and Pakistan. [10]

8. What the 3.2% Unemployment Figure Does Not Tell You

• A person counts as 'employed' even with very little work
• The 3.2% uses usual status (ps+ss). Here, someone whose main activity is not work is still counted as employed if they did some subsidiary (side) work during the year [3].
• So a woman who helps on the family farm for part of the year adds to the employed count. Her work may be unpaid or irregular, but she still counts.

• This is why a low UR (unemployment rate) and poor job quality can show up together in the same data.

• The new jobs are mostly self-employment, not salaried jobs

• In 2023-24, 67% of working women were self-employed. That share has been rising [11].
• The share of women in regular salaried jobs fell to a seven-year low of 15.9%, down from 21% in 2017-18 [11].

• So the number of jobs went up, but the kind of job that usually comes with a contract, paid leave and PF became rarer for women.

• Lower unemployment and a rise in the 'better' jobs are not the same thing

• The headline number counts how many people have work. It does not show whether the type of work is getting better.
• To judge quality, read UR next to the change in each employment category (self-employed, casual, regular salaried). Do not read UR on its own.

9. Is More Women Working Good News? The Case For and Against

• The strongest case that it is good news
• Female LFPR (share of women working or looking for work) almost doubled, from 23.3% to 41.7% [3][4]. The government presents this as 'enhanced' female participation in the economy [4].
• Self-employment is not automatically bad. A woman running a small shop or tailoring unit earns her own income and has some freedom she did not have at home.

• This part is fair. Getting women into the labour force at all is the first step, and the change is too big to ignore.

• Why the good news is only half the story

• The rise came mostly through self-employment, while the share of women in salaried jobs fell [11]. Women are entering work at the bottom, not the middle.
• Female UR went up from 2.9% to 3.2% while male UR fell [3]. Many women who want work cannot find it.

• Self-employed and home-based women are exactly the group that the new gig-worker provisions do not cover (see the next section).

• A fair conclusion for Mains

• More women are working. That is real progress in participation.
• Whether it is progress in empowerment depends on income, contracts and social security, and on these the data points the other way [1][11].

10. Why the Labour Codes May Not Reach Most Informal Workers

• The law is now in force, but the protection is still being built
• The four Labour Codes, including the Code on Social Security, 2020, came into force on 21 November 2025 [12].
• For the first time, Indian law defines 'gig worker' and 'platform worker' [12].

• But the labour ministry was still drafting a national framework to set uniform social security standards for gig workers after the Codes were notified [15]. The law says protection can be given. The schemes that actually pay out are not fully in place.

• The funding model only reaches workers who have a platform employer

• Aggregators (apps like Zomato, Swiggy, Uber) must pay 1–2% of annual turnover, capped at 5% of payments to their workers, into a social security fund [12].
• This works only where there is a company to charge.

• The self-employed woman tailor, the farm helper and the street vendor have no aggregator. So this money never reaches them, even though they are most of the ~90% informal workforce [5].

• Being registered is not the same as being protected

• The e-Shram portal (a national database of unorganised workers) had registered over 31.42 crore workers by December 2025 [14].
• Only about 5.12 lakh platform workers had registered by 1 December 2025 [13].
• A name on a database gives no benefit by itself. The benefit comes only when a scheme is linked to that registration and funded.

11. Who Should Do What Next

• MoSPI should publish job quality, not just job numbers
• PLFS already records whether a worker has a written contract and whether they get social security [3].
• MoSPI could publish a simple job-quality indicator next to UR in each release. This is the gap the Hindu's Decent Work Index tries to fill from outside [1].

• This would let Parliament and the public track SDG-8 (decent work), not only employment.

• The Labour Ministry should turn e-Shram registrations into actual benefits

• The aggregator-funded schemes promised under the Code on Social Security should be notified, with clear benefits such as accident cover, health and old-age protection [12][15].

• Each e-Shram ID is Aadhaar-linked and portable across platforms [12]. Benefits should follow the worker when they move from one app to another.

• Government should design cover for the self-employed, who have no employer to charge

• Most new female jobs are self-employment [11]. Any plan that depends on an employer paying will miss them.

• The ILO–India DWCP 2023-27 already makes social security a priority and is agreed with workers and employers [9]. It is the natural forum to design contribution-plus-government-support schemes for this group.

• Policy should aim at more salaried jobs, not just fewer unemployed people

• The share of women in regular salaried work has fallen since 2017-18 [11].
• The test of success should be whether that share rises, because these are the jobs that most often come with a contract and social security.

12. Anchors for Answers

• Data: UR (usual status, 15+) fell from 6.1% (2017-18) to 3.2% (2023-24) [1][3]. But 67% of working women are self-employed, and only 15.9% are in regular salaried jobs (down from 21%) [11].
• Data: e-Shram had 31.42 crore unorganised workers registered by Dec 2025 [14], against only ~5.12 lakh platform workers [13].
• Report/Committee: ILO India Employment Report 2024: about 90% of workers are informal [5]. ILO–India Decent Work Country Programme 2023-27 [9].
• Law/Case: Code on Social Security, 2020, in force from 21 Nov 2025. It is the first legal definition of gig and platform workers, with an aggregator levy of 1–2% of turnover [12]. DPSP Art. 43 (living wage).
• Scheme: e-Shram portal: an Aadhaar-linked, portable ID for unorganised and platform workers. It registers workers but gives no benefits by itself [12][14].

13. Mains Relevance

• GS-III: Indian Economy and issues relating to growth, development and employment; inclusive growth.
• GS-II: Welfare schemes for vulnerable sections; mechanisms and laws for their protection and betterment.
• GS-I: Role of women (female labour force participation).
• GS-IV (minor): Dignity of labour.
• Question stems: 1. "Falling unemployment does not mean better jobs." Examine this claim using recent PLFS trends and the ILO concept of decent work. (15 marks) 2. The rise in female workforce participation in India hides concerns about job quality. Critically analyse. (10 marks) 3. With most of the workforce informal, how far can the Code on Social Security, 2020 help achieve SDG-8 for gig and platform workers? (15 marks)

14. Related Topics to Study Next

• PLFS methodology (CWS vs usual status): needed to read UR, LFPR and WPR correctly.
• Four Labour Codes: the legal route to formalisation and social security.
• Gig and platform workers / e-Shram: the fastest-growing group lacking social protection.
• Female LFPR and the "U-shaped" feminisation hypothesis: explains the female participation trend.
• ILO India Employment Report 2024: source of data on youth, informality and skills.
• SDG India Index (NITI Aayog), Goal 8: tracks progress on decent work.
• Informal sector and MSMEs: the main source of informal employment.
• Jobless growth / structural transformation: why workers have not moved out of agriculture into quality jobs.

15. NCERT Concepts to Revise

• Decent work (Economy): The article's central idea: jobs should give fair income, rights, social security and dignity, not just exist.
• Informal employment (Economy): Most new jobs lack contracts, leave or security, which explains why falling unemployment hides poor job quality.
• Periodic Labour Force Survey (Economy): PLFS is the official data source for the unemployment and participation figures the debate relies on.
• Social security (Economy): Missing pensions, insurance and provident funds are what make informal and gig jobs indecent and leave workers exposed.
• Labour force participation rate (Economy): Needed to read the rise in female participation and separate it from worker-population ratio and unemployment rate.
• Gig worker (Economy): Gig and platform workers count as employed yet lack protection, a key case for the Social Security Code.

16. Common Errors / Trap Areas

• LFPR vs WPR confusion: for women in 2023-24, 41.7% is LFPR and 40.3% is WPR. [3]
• Assuming female UR fell in 2023-24: it rose (2.9% to 3.2%) while male UR fell. [3]
• Wrong agency: PLFS is run by MoSPI, not the Labour Ministry. Decent work is an ILO concept tied to SDG-8, not SDG-1 or SDG-10. [1][3]
• Survey period: PLFS annual rounds run July–June. [3]
• Equating "employed" with "decent work": a worker without a contract, leave or insurance still counts as employed. [1]