Class 12 Economics Short Questions with Answers - Employment: Growth, Informalisation, and other issues

Q.1. Define employment.
Ans. Employment is a situation in which a person, who is able and willing to work at existing wage, gets work.

Q.2. Who are workers?
Ans. Workers are those who are engaged in economic activities and contribute to the Gross National Product.

Q.3. What is the share of women in rural workforce.
Ans. Women workers constitute one-third of the rural workforce.

Q.4. Why is it important to study about working people?
Ans. It is important to study about working people to:
(i) understand the quality and nature of employment in our country;
(ii) facilitate planning of our human resources;
(iii) analyse the contribution of different industries and sectors towards national income; and
(iv) address social issues such as exploitation of backward sections of the society, child labour. etc.

Q.5. Why are women employed in low paid work?
Ans. Women are employed in low paid work due to the following reasons:
(i) There is division of labour between men and women due to historical and cultural reasons.
(ii) Literacy rate and skill formation is low among women.
(iii) Legal protection of women employees is meager.
(iv) Most women find jobs in which there is no job security.

Q.6. Name different types of workers.
Ans. The different types of workers are:
(i) Regular salaried employees
(ii) Casual workers
(iii) Self-employed

Q.7. Why is the share of self-employed is greater in rural areas?
Ans. The share of self-employed is greater in rural areas because majority of those depending on farming own plots of land and cultivate independently.

Q.8. Explain the nature of different types of workers.
Ans. The following are the main types of workers according to their nature of work:
(i) Self-employed Worker: All those workers who own and operate the enterprises to earn their livelihood are known as self-employed workers.
(ii) Casual Wage Worker: The workers who are casually engaged in other’s farm and getting a payment in return for the work done are known as casual wage workers or hired workers on casual basis.
(iii) Regular Salaried Workers: Workers engaged by someone and paid wages on a regular basis are known as regular salaried workers.

Q.9. Give an account of distribution of employment on the basis of gender.
Ans. Self-employment accounts for more than 50 per cent of the workforce and hence, is the major source of livelihood for both men and women. Casual wage job is the second major source for both men and women, more. It accounts for 32 and 37 per cent of male and female workforce respectively. In case of regular salaried employment, men are found to be more engaged. While male workforce forms 18 per cent, female workforce forms only 10 per cent.

Q.10. Give the distribution of workforce by industry in rural areas.
Ans. The distribution of workforce by industry in rural areas is as below:
(i) Primary sector - 66.6 per cent
(ii) Secondary sector - 16.0 per cent
(iii) Tertiary sector - 17.4 per cent

Q.11. When does jobless growth take place?
Ans. Jobless growth takes place when a country produces more goods and services without generating employment.

Q.12. Define casualisation of workforce.
Ans. Casualisation of workforce means movement from self-employment and regular salaried employment to casual wage work.

Q.13. Which of these are unorganised sector activities?
(i) A teacher
(ii) A headload worker
(iii) A farmer
(iv) A doctor
(v) A daily wage labourer
(vi) A factory worker
Ans. The headload worker, farmer, daily wage labourer and factory worker are involved in unorganised sector activities.

Q.14. Explain the employment of people in various industries and their status.
Ans. (i) There has been substantial shift from agriculture to industries and service sector. Although primary sector continues to remain the main source of employment of workers over the last six decades, its share has decreased from 74 per cent in 1951 to 50 per cent in 2012. With the process of development in the country, the share of employment is increasing in secondary and tertiary sectors. The share of industries has increased from 11 to 24 per cent and that of service sector has increased from 15 to 27 per cent during 1950–2012.
(ii) The changes in the distribution of workforce in different status over the last four decades indicate that people have moved from self-employment and regular salaried employment to casual wage work.

Q.15. Workers are exploited in the unorganised sector. Do you agree with this view? Give reasons in support of your answer.
Ans. Unorganised sector comprises of small and scattered units, which are largely outside the control of the government. Workers in the unorganised sector are often exploited because of the following reasons:
(i) No rules and regulations
(ii) Irregular and low-paid jobs
(iii) No provision for overtime, leaves, etc.
(iv) No job security
(v) Social discrimination

Q.16. Define unemployment.
Ans. Unemployment is a situation in which the person who is willing to work at the prevailing wages is unable to find jobs.

Q.17. Suggest one way to resolve the problem of underemployment in rural areas.
Ans. Government can identify, promote and locate industries in semi-rural areas to generate employment opportunities.

Q.18. State the objective of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act 2005.
Ans. The objective of the NREGA 2005 is to provide 100 days of guaranteed wage employment to all rural households who volunteer to do unskilled manual work.

Q.19. What is meant by disguised unemployment? Explain giving an example.
Ans. In disguised unemployment, more than required persons are engaged in a job. People appear to be employed but they are actually unemployed. This type of unemployment usually happens among family members engaged in agricultural activity. Suppose there are 7 members in a family. Although the work requires the service of only 4 people, all the members of a family find work on that agricultural plot. The output of the field will not decline if 3 members are removed from the process. These 3 members are disguisedly unemployed.

Q.20. What is unemployment? What are the most common types of unemployment found in India?
Ans. Unemployment is a situation in which the people who are willing to work at the prevailing wages are unable to find jobs. The most common types of unemployment found in India are:
(i) Seasonal Unemployment: This type of unemployment takes place when people are not able to find jobs during some months of the year. The situation of seasonal unemployment arises mainly in agricultural sector people are busy during sowing, harvesting, weeding and threshing. However, there are certain months in which they do not get much work.
(ii) Disguised Unemployment: In disguised unemployment, more than required persons are engaged in a job. This type of unemployment usually happens among family members engaged in agricultural activity.