India's young adults face underemployment, overwork and long commutes
Updated
Updated · BusinessLine · May 5
India's young adults face underemployment, overwork and long commutes
7 articles · Updated · BusinessLine · May 5
Time Use Survey 2024 found only 46.7% of 20-29-year-olds in paid work, with employed youth averaging 6 hours 55 minutes at work and 50 minutes commuting daily.
About a quarter work more than eight hours, while underemployment is concentrated in informal enterprises; urban workdays and commutes are longer, and many formal workers exceed nine hours including travel.
Women’s total work time rises to 9 hours 31 minutes once unpaid care is counted, and researchers warn AI, weak transport and costly housing could deepen labour-market strains.
India's women work longer hours than men for no pay. Are government policies failing to address this invisible crisis?
As AI threatens 3 million jobs, is India's demographic dividend turning into a demographic disaster?
With employers prizing skills over degrees, is India's education system creating an unemployable generation?
India's Youth Employment Crisis in 2026: Less Than 50% Employed Amid AI Disruption and Gender Gaps
Overview
In 2026, AI is transforming India's job market by threatening entry-level roles and reducing the value of traditional degrees, prompting the government to invest heavily in AI skilling and new sectors like the orange economy, tourism, and sports to create future-proof jobs. Despite these efforts, fewer than half of young adults are employed, with stark gender and regional disparities driven by unpaid care burdens and cultural barriers limiting women's workforce participation. Long commutes and overwork further strain youth well-being. To address these challenges, policies like the Shram Shakti Niti 2025 and sector-specific investments aim to formalize work, expand AI and healthcare skills, and promote gender inclusion, building a resilient, inclusive labor market for the future.