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ARTHA

Educated Women Face the Highest Unemployment Rate

As shown in Figure 5, unemployment rate among creating suitable employment opportunities for highly
educated Indian women is notably high. India’s female educated women. In contrast, in many peer economies,
unemployment pattern stands out sharply when higher educational attainment typically corresponds with
compared with other countries across education levels. lower unemployment.
At the basic education level, India records one of the
lowest female unemployment rates. However, at the The persistently high unemployment rates among
intermediate level, unemployment rises and exceeds that educated women point to a shortage of gainful
of most comparable nations. The contrast becomes most employment opportunities and reveal significant
striking at the advanced education level, where India’s demand-side constraints. This trend reflects deeper
female unemployment rate reaches 21 per cent - the structural issues in India’s labour market, including
highest among all the countries considered. This indicates limited availability of high-skill jobs, gender-based
that, while India performs relatively well in employing discrimination in hiring, and a mismatch between
women with basic education, it faces severe challenges in women’s qualifications and available positions.

Figure 5: Highly Educated Indian Women Face the Highest Unemployment Rate (%)
25.0
20.9
20.0 19.0

15.0

10.0
6.2 6.3
4.6
5.0 3.6 3.8 3.2
2.3 2.1 1.8 2.5
1.6 1.6 1.1 1.1 1.5
0.4
0.0
Basic Intermediate Advanced

Bangladesh India Indonesia Philippines Thailand Vietnam

Source: World Development Indicators, World Bank
Note: Data for Bangladesh, India, Thailand and Vietnam is for 2024 whereas data for Indonesia and Philippines is for 2022

Figure 6: Highly Educated Indian Men Face High Unemployment Rate (%)

12.0 11.0
10.0
8.4
8.0
6.3
5.8 5.8
6.0
4.5
4.0 3.1 3.4 3.5
2.5 2.3 2.1
2.0 1.8 1.4 0.9 1.8 1.5
0.6
0.0
Basic Intermediate Advanced

Bangladesh India Indonesia Philippines Thailand Vietnam

Source: World Development Indicators, World Bank
Note: Data for Bangladesh, India, Thailand and Vietnam is for 2024 whereas data for Indonesia and Philippines is for 2022

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