From burden to advantage

Bihar must make better use of its demographic dividend and underemployed labour force

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Bihar is India’s poorest large-sized state as well as the country’s youngest state in terms of population composition. A data journalism series published in these pages on the quantity, educational quality and caste inequality of Bihar’s labour force — the share of population either working or looking for a job — offers crucial insights on the labour market challenges facing Bihar. While the state is a laggard in terms of share of overall working-age population (15-64 year-old), it has the highest share of what can be described as young workers in the 15-29 age-group. Almost all of the anecdotal evidence suggests that an overwhelming share of the younger part of this labour force either wants a government job or migrates outsid