BENGALURU: Karnataka‘s booming technology sector and expanding economy are masking stark inequalities in opportunities available to young people across the state, with where a person is born continuing to play a decisive role in their education, employment and future prospects, according to the YouthPOWER report by the Future of India Foundation.The report, which analysed nearly 180 indicators across Karnataka’s 31 districts, found wide disparities in outcomes despite the state being home to one of India’s youngest populations. Nearly one in four Karnataka residents is between the ages of 15 and 29, but opportunities vary sharply between districts such as Bengaluru Urban and Yadgir.
..
The report assigns Karnataka an overall YouthPOWER score of 48.5 out of 100, slightly below the national average of 49.9. Bengaluru Urban topped the rankings with a score of 65, followed by Ramanagara (57) and Dakshina Kannada (56). At the other end of the spectrum were Yadgir (42), Raichur (43), Haveri (44) and Chitradurga (44).While the state’s labour market has improved over the past decade, the report notes that many young people continue to remain outside both education and employment. Karnataka has around 1.6 crore young people, with labour force participation at 45.6% and youth unemployment at 8.6%. However, 22.6% of young people fall under the NEET category—not in employment, education or training.Among Karnataka’s youth, 42% are working, 35% are studying, while nearly 23% are neither studying nor working. Alarmingly, only about 4% of those in the latter category are actively seeking employment, suggesting many have dropped out of both education and the workforce altogether.The report also highlights a major disconnect between education and employability. Although secondary school enrolment stands at 80.1%, only 1.3% of schools offer vocational education. Just 28.5% of young people receive vocational training, while only 4.7% undergo formal institutional training, leaving many without industry-ready skills.Women continue to remain the state’s most underutilised workforce, according to the findings. Female labour force participation stands at just 24.5%, nearly half of whom work without pay in family enterprises. Around 24% of working women are engaged in unpaid work, compared to 17% of men.
Even among graduates, gender disparities persist. One in four women graduates is unemployed, compared with 13% of male graduates. Additionally, nearly 56.9% of workers lack employer-provided social security benefits, underlining the dominance of informal employment.Although the state has made progress since 2017-18, the report says improvements have been uneven. Labour force participation has increased from 40% to 45.6%, youth unemployment has declined from 15.8% to 8.6%, and the share of regular salaried jobs has risen from 37.3% to 44.4%. Average monthly wages have also increased from Rs 12,517 to Rs 15,508.However, formal employment remains limited. Karnataka has nearly 39 lakh unincorporated enterprises compared to just 14,984 registered factories—a ratio of 261 informal businesses for every factory. Factory employment accounts for only 12.3 lakh jobs.Sector-wise, agriculture continues to employ the largest share of young workers at 26%, despite offering average monthly earnings of Rs 9,137. Services, which employ 24% of workers, offer the highest average earnings at Rs 16,977 per month, highlighting the widening gap in incomes depending on the nature of employment.
The report also showcases sharp differences in social and financial indicators across districts. In Bengaluru Urban, for instance, 91.8% of women have bank accounts, 88.3% own mobile phones, 66.3% own a house and 53.7% own land. The district also reports relatively lower levels of child marriage, with 14.5% of women married before the age of 18.The report concludes that Karnataka’s demographic dividend can only be realised if disparities between districts are addressed through better education, stronger vocational training, higher female workforce participation and the creation of quality formal jobs across the state rather than being concentrated in a few urban centres.
