Q.Poor people also face ________________ employment.
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🔒 Start your 14-day free trial to unlock the full solution →Concept understanding — Underemployment Definition
Underemployment: Working, but Not Working to Your Full Capacity
Imagine a farmer who owns a small plot of land. He works on it every day from sunrise to sunset, alongside his two sons. Together, the three of them produce exactly what one person working with modern tools could produce in half the time. Are they employed? Yes. Are they working as productively as they could? No.
That gap — between being employed and being employed at your full potential — is the heart of underemployment.
The Everyday Intuition
You have probably seen this in your own neighbourhood. The chai-wala who has three assistants, but only one is actually needed. The family-run shop where four family members sit around, but the work could be done by two. These people are not unemployed — they have work. But their work does not use their time, skills, or energy properly. They are underemployed.
In economics, we distinguish between two kinds of underemployment:
Visible underemployment — when a person works fewer hours than they want to (e.g., a construction worker who gets work only 3 days a week but wants 6).
Invisible underemployment — when a person works full hours, but their skills are wasted or their productivity is very low (e.g., an engineer driving a rickshaw, or three workers doing a job that one could do).
The Precise Meaning
Underemployment is a situation where labour is not used to its full capacity. The worker is part of the employed workforce, but the contribution to output is far below what it could be. In national-income terms, this means the economy is producing less than its potential because human resources are being wasted.
Underemployment is not the same as unemployment. An unemployed person has zero work. An underemployed person has work, but the work is insufficient in hours, income, or skill-use.
Why It Matters for the Economy
Underemployment is a hidden problem. Official unemployment statistics often miss it because they only count people who are actively looking for work and cannot find any. A person who is underemployed may not show up in those numbers at all.
Yet underemployment has serious consequences:
- Low income: Even if you work full days, if your productivity is low, your earnings stay low. This is one reason poverty persists even when employment numbers look good.
- Wasted human potential: A graduate forced into manual labour represents years of education that the economy fails to use. …
In India, poverty often forces people into low-productivity work rather than complete joblessness, because they cannot afford to stay idle. …
The poor cannot afford outright unemployment, so they accept whatever work is available even if it under-utilises their time/skill — this hidden, low-productivity engagement is called disguised unemployment or underemployment.
Unlike an open unemployment situation where a person has no work at all, the poor in India — especially in agriculture and the informal sector — typically cannot survive without some income, however small. As a result, they end up working fewer hours than they would like, or working in jobs where their marginal productivity is very low or even close to zero (e.g., several family members 'working' a small farm that genuinely needs only one or two). This phenomenon, where people appear employed on paper …
- CBSE 2026Set 58/3/11 markMCQQ.Read the following statements : Assertion (A) and Reason (R). Choose the correct option from those given below : Assertion (A) : The unemployment problem in India is multifaceted. Reason (R) : Some individuals work round the year, while others work only a few months in a year. Options : (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, but 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.
›Reveal solutionSolution
India's unemployment problem is indeed multifaceted, and the seasonal variation in work availability is one genuine feature of the labour market. Both statements are true, but the Reason describes only a single facet and does not, on its own, explain the multifaceted nature of the problem — so the answer is (B).
The unemployment situation in India cannot be captured by a single statistic or understood through one lens alone. When we say the problem is "multifaceted," we mean it has multiple dimensions—different types of unemployment coexist, affecting different sections of the workforce in different ways. This is precisely what the NCERT Indian Economic Development text emphasizes when discussing employment challenges.
The Assertion correctly identifies this complexity. India faces not just one kind of unemployment but several: seasonal unemployment in agriculture, disguised unemployment where more people work than necessary, educated unemployment among the youth, and open unemployment in both rural and urban areas. Each type has distinct causes, affects different groups, and requires a different policy response. So the Assertion is true.
Now consider the Reason. It points to a specific manifestation—some workers have year-round employment while others find work only during certain months. This is a direct reference to seasonal unemployment and underemployment, particularly prevalent in agriculture. A farmer or agricultural labourer may be fully occupied during sowing and harvesting seasons but sit idle during the intervening months. This is a genuine feature of India's labour market, so the Reason is also true.
NoteSeasonal unemployment is especially acute in rain-fed agricultural regions where only one crop cycle is possible per year. Workers there may be employed for just four to six months annually, remaining unemployed or underemployed for the rest of the year. …
- CBSE 2024Set 58/1/11 markMCQQ.Read the following statements carefully : Statement 1 : As per the National Sample Survey Organization (NSSO), unemployment is a situation in which all those who, owing to lack of work, are not working, but are seeking work from prospective employers. They express their willingness/availability to work under the prevailing conditions of work and remuneration. Statement 2 : Disguised Unemployment is generally a massive problem in a highly populated country like India. In the light of the given statements, choose the correct alternative from the following : (A) Statement 1 is true and Statement 2 is false. (B) Statement 1 is false and Statement 2 is true. (C) Both Statements 1 and 2 are true. (D) Both Statements 1 and 2 are false.
›Reveal solutionSolution
Both statements are factually correct: Statement 1 accurately defines unemployment as per NSSO, and Statement 2 correctly identifies disguised unemployment as a major issue in a populous country like India.
Let’s examine each statement carefully, not just for its literal wording but for the economic concept it represents.
Statement 1 quotes the National Sample Survey Organization’s (NSSO) definition of unemployment. The NSSO — now part of the National Statistical Office (NSO) — indeed defines unemployment as a situation where individuals are without work, are available for work, and are actively seeking work under the prevailing conditions. The phrasing in the statement — “owing to lack of work, are not working, but are seeking work from prospective employers” — captures the essence of the usual status and current weekly status approaches used in Indian labour surveys. This is the standard, internationally accepted definition of unemployment (the “labour force” approach). So Statement 1 is true. …
- CBSE 2024Set MARCH1 markQ.Fill in the blank by choosing correct answer from the bracket (agriculture, labour, statistics, sub-divided bar diagrams, consumer, project report): In India disguised unemployment can be seen more in __________ sector.
›Reveal solutionSolution
Disguised unemployment is found more in the agriculture sector.
In Karnataka 1st PUC Economics, disguised unemployment refers to a situation where the number of workers on a job exceeds what is actually required, so that some of them contribute nothing extra to output. In India this is most visible in agriculture, where many family members work on the same small holding even thou …
- CBSE 2024Set ANNUAL1 markMCQQ.A situation where the number of workers engaged in a job much more than actually required is -(a) seasonal unemployment(b) underemployment(c) disguised unemployment(d) structural unemployment
›Reveal solutionSolution
Disguised unemployment is when more workers are engaged in a job than are actually required, so some add virtually nothing to output even while appearing employed.
Disguised unemployment describes a situation — very common in Indian agriculture on small family-run farms — where the number of workers engaged in a task far exceeds what is genuinely needed to do it. If some of these extra workers were withdrawn, total output would not fall, because their marginal productivity is zero (or close to it); they are 'hidden' unemployed, since on the surface everyone looks occupied. This differs from seasonal unemployment (workers idle only in certain seasons), underemployment (a broader/relate …
- CBSE 2022Set ANNUAL1 markQ.OR (Question 24 alternative) What is disguised unemployment?
›Reveal solutionSolution
Disguised unemployment exists when workers appear employed but contribute little or nothing to output — common on family farms in India.
In Indian agriculture, land holdings are often small and farming is largely a family enterprise. All family members, whether genuinely needed or not, tend to work on the family farm because alternative job opportunities are scarce. As a result, far more people are engaged on the land than the work actually requires. If some of these family members were withdrawn, total farm output would not fall — their marginal physical product is effectively zero. This hidden form of unemployment, where workers are nominally "employed" but add nothing extra to productio …
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