OBJECTIVE

More than two billion adults worldwide don’t have the

essential literacy skills employers need. Unemployment
causes lost productivity which slows economic growth.
Perhaps more important is the emotional and social
impact. For millions, the loss of income
and poverty affect self-worth. This is a distressing and
immeasurable cost.
Our main objective is to show the interrelation between
illiteracy, unemployment and poverty. In order to achieve
this, we will study the socio-economic condition of India
and conduct a short survey in our local area. In this survey
we will target the poor section of the society and get to
know about their social and financial conditions.
From this we will infer that how illiteracy leads to
unemployment which on the other hand leads to poverty.
We will study the consequences the poor section of the
society faces due to poverty some of which are child labor,
debt burden which creates mental pressure on them and
creates a suicidal tendency.
We will also see that to what extent the poor section of the
society get support from the government.

SOCIO ECONOMIC CONDITION OF INDIA

The Socio-economic Statistics include a vast array of

information on health and disease, literacy and education,
standard of living and poverty, labor force and
employment, status of women and gender empowerment,
population parameters relevant to fertility, mortality and
migration, ecology and environmental protection. A sound
system for collection of Social Sector Statistics is vital for
the effective development of social policy, for informed
decision making on policy issues and for evaluation of the
impact of social and economic policies.
India is now one of the fastest growing economies in the
world. Despite impressive economic growth, India
continues to face significant development challenges.
Poverty alleviation and equitable access to basic social
services including education and health care remain at the
forefront of national socio-economic discussions. India’s
sustainable development will be dependent on the
country’s ability to maintain economic growth while
addressing the root causes of staggering poverty.
Slow economic growth rate on the one hand, and high rate
of illiteracy on the other hand, has accentuated the
problem of unemployment and poverty in India.

1. ILLITERACY:

Literacy is an important indicator of a country’s

economic progress and the standard of living – it
shows how many people have access to education. In
order to identify potential for intellectual and
educational progress, the literacy rate of a country
covers the level of education and skills acquired by a
country’s inhabitants. Literacy in India has been
increasing as people receive a better education, but it
is still far from all-encompassing.
For the purpose of census 2011, a person aged
seven and above, who can both read and write with
understanding in any language, is treated as literate.
A person, who can only read but cannot write, is not
literate.
In 2018, the degree of literacy in India was about 74.4
percent, with the majority of literate Indians being
men. It is estimated that the global literacy rate for
people aged 15 and above is about 86 percent.
 2. UNEMPLOYMENT:

Unemployment is a situation when a person actively

searches for a job and is unable to find work.
Unemployment indicates the health of the economy.
The unemployment rate is the most frequent measure
of unemployment.
The unemployment rate is the number of people un
employed divided by the working population or people
working under labour force.
Unemployment rate = (Unemployed Workers /
Total labor force) × 100
The major causes of unemployment in India are as
mentioned below:
 Large population.
 Lack of vocational skills or low educational levels of
the working population.
 The huge workforce of the country is associated with
the informal sector because of a lack of required
education or skills, and this data is not captured in
employment statistics.
 The main cause of structural unemployment is the
education provided in schools and colleges are not as
per the current requirements of the industries. 
 Regressive social norms that deter women from
taking/continuing employment.
 The unemployment in any nation has the following
effects on the economy:
 The problem of unemployment gives rise to the
problem of poverty.
 Unemployed persons can easily be enticed by
antisocial elements. This makes them lose faith in the
democratic values of the country.
 People unemployed for a long time may indulge in
illegal and wrong activities for earning money which
increases crime in the country.
 It is often seen that unemployed people end up
getting addicted to drugs and alcohol or attempts
suicide, leading to losses to the human resources of
the country.

The statistic shows the unemployment rate in India from

1999 to 2020. In 2020, the unemployment rate in India
was estimated to be 5.4 percent. There has been a
significant increase in the rate of unemployment from
2018 to 2020.
 3. POVERTY:

More than 800 million people in India are considered

poor. Most of them live in the countryside and keep
afloat with odd jobs. The lack of employment which
provides a livable wage in rural areas is driving many
Indians into rapidly growing metropolitan areas such as
Bombay, Delhi, Bangalore or Calcutta. There, most of
them expect a life of poverty and despair in the mega-
slums, made up of millions of corrugated ironworks,
without sufficient drinking water supply, without
garbage disposal and in many cases without
electricity. The poor hygiene conditions are the cause
of diseases such as cholera, typhus and dysentery, in
which especially children suffer and die. The increasing
population has led to unemployment and lower per
capita income.

Two-thirds of people in India live in poverty: 68.8% of

the Indian population lives on less than $2 a day. Over
30% even have less than $1.25 per day available - they
are considered extremely poor. This makes the Indian
subcontinent one of the poorest countries in the
world; women and children, the weakest members of
Indian society, suffer most.
INTERRELATION BETWEEN ILLITERACY,
UNEMPLOYMENT AND POVERTY:

Unemployment can be viewed as the most remarkable

outcome of illiteracy. There is a strong connection
between unemployment and illiteracy. Today, many jobs
require even more advanced digital skills, financial
literacy, and critical thinking. Without the foundations of
education, employment prospects are slim. For those with
low literacy levels who do find work, it’s often unstable, low
paying jobs with little possibility of career progression.
Furthermore, children of illiterate and unemployed parents
often inherit the same problems.
If the numbers of uneducated people increase, it would not
be much of surprise to see that unemployment is perhaps
going to grow in coming times. Unemployment causes lost
productivity which slows economic growth. Perhaps more
important is the emotional and social impact. For millions,
the loss of income and poverty affect self-worth. This is a
distressing and immeasurable cost.

There exists a deep connection between unemployment

and poverty. If employment opportunities are generated,
then more people will be employed leading to rise in their
income which in turn will reduce poverty. Due to
unemployment, income of the people is reduced to a large
extent and they are unable to get access to education,
health facilities, proper sanitation, etc. This causes poor
quality of living and hence poor human capital and skills
which in turn lead to poverty making a vicious circle of
poverty.

There is a close connection between illiteracy and poverty.

Poverty breeds illiteracy by forcing children to drop out of
school to work, and these illiterate people are forced to
stay on the lowest levels of the work force and thus remain
in poverty. Thus, illiteracy in turn reinforces poverty, and
poverty is cyclical in families. Women and girls are
especially vulnerable to the cycle.

Therefore, illiteracy, poverty and unemployment are

interrelated.