Aspects of social development: Employment and related issues

The employment (or unemployment) question is of great economic and social significance. A gainful employment affords the individual an opportunity to participate in the process of production and to share, as a consumer, a part of production, a part which should ideally relate to his or her own productivity. Employment thus enables the individual to lead an active life in society both as a producer and a consumer. It confers on him or her the psychological satisfaction of being useful. Unemployment, on the other hand, denies the individual all of these. Unemployment in most cases could spell stark poverty. The psychological trauma from the feeling of uselessness could turn the individual into a dissatisfied member of the community. The unemployed could point an accusing finger at society as being responsible for denying them the right and opportunity to work. A large mass of the unemployed would thus naturally be a social concern, as it indeed is in modem societies, and would obviously call for social action and policy interventions.

Sustainable Development Goals:

Decent Work and Economic Growth

Reduced Inequalities