Sanjay Sharma

Of a number of problems the country is currently grappling with, unemployment is one of the most critical. While international organisations like the World Bank have suggested that more than 40 percent of the population is unemployed, government data from the Nepal Living Standard Survey (NLSS) 2010/11 shows unemployment to be at about two percent. While this difference is largely due to the different definitions of ‘unemployment’ these surveys use, it is fair to say that unemployment is a growing problem in Nepal and it is increasing due to young people’s disregard for sectors like agriculture.

There was a recent news report on The Kathmandu Post (September 13, Money II) about the Dairy Development Corporation (DDC) importing milk products from India because of rising demand and diminishing supply. When paired with another news report on Page 4 of the same issue about Nepali youth aspiring to join the Indian Army, these two reports suggest that Nepali youth do not want jobs in sectors like agriculture or livestock rearing and are rather opting to go abroad or even staying idle until they find something more ‘respectful’.

Because of a lack of domestic job opportunities and increasing aspirations to earn much in little time, many individuals are started seeking employment abroad, primarily in countries like India, Malaysia, and the Gulf states. However, I would argue that people are not unemployed or seeking alternatives elsewhere because they are uneducated or illiterate; rather, as per national statistics, the more learned people are, the higher their chances of being unemployed. Educated people are not taking up jobs in the agricultural sector, as it is generally not considered something for the educated, despite the fact that this sector always has a ready need for human resources.

Data from three NLSS in 1995/96, 2003/04 and 2010/11 highlight this point. The sets of NLSS data show that the rate of unemployment is directly proportional to education. While the first two NLSS show that more illite-rates are unemployed when compared with the literates, the most recent NLSS shows that the unemployment rate is the lowest for illite-rates and it increases progressively for those who are better educated. Although unemployment has decreased from 4.9 percent in 2010/11  to 3.8 percent in 1995/96 and 2.2 percent in 2003/04, and considering that there could be flaws in the calculation itself, this decrease in the unemployment rate is because of better prospects for foreign employment for individuals, particularly from the educated group.

One reason why the unemployment rate is high for the educated could be the lack of ‘white-collar’ job opportunities inside the country. Most educated people might not opt for jobs in agriculture and instead, would rather stay idle. Moreover, these could be the same bunch of individuals who are waiting to go abroad for work. However, for the illi-terate, as opportunities for ‘better’ employment both abroad and inside the country are relatively rare, they can get engaged in any work that comes their way and would rather not stay idle. Agriculture, therefore, is one such sector where most of these individuals are absorbed.

This fact is further reiterated by figures from the Nepal Migration Survey 2009, which shows that the number of eduacted people going abroad is much higher than the number of uneducated people.  Of all migrants, an overwhelming 87 percent had some level of education while only about 13 percent had never attended school.

As most illiterates are generally employed in menial and low-paying work, it is certain that although they are employed, they do not earn much and therefore, their families are forced to survive in poor living conditions. When people are educated, they can find well-paying white-collar jobs inside the country and they generally do not have to get involved in jobs they consider disrespectful and can choose to go abroad.

Three issues are of importance here. One, the youth are not attracted by traditional occupations, which they consider the work of the uneducated. This simply ratchets up the unemployment rate and makes the country dependent on imports for even simple items like milk, as mentioned earlier. Two, Nepal is not able to produce ‘better’ employment opportunities inside the country and absorb its workforce. Therefore, the educated are vanishing away in foreign countries seeking employment. Three, the illiterate workforce is forced to stay inside the country at very low incomes because they do not easily get the chance to go abroad. While the country is facing problems of brain and muscle drain because of many structural issues like poverty and unemployment, employment opportunities that are created here are not generating benefits for illiterates and they again are compelled to live a life of poverty and scarcity. And those who are educated, and possibly more capable, do not seem to consider employment opportunities available inside the country as respectful.

Sharma is a Research Associate at the Centre for the Study of Labour and Mobility, Kathmandu and tweets @chaupaari

Published on: 29 September 2013 | The Kathmandu Post