Tamil Nadu leads states in youth degrees and salaried jobs, survey reveals

Over half of all young people in Tamil Nadu hold a college degree, marking the highest share of any state in the country.

Job Market Numbers

Among young adults aged 22 to 29 years, 52 percent have a degree. Furthermore, 56 percent of young people in the labour force have regular salaried jobs. These findings come from the Tamil Nadu Handbook of Youth Opportunity, which was released by the Future of India Foundation and the Chennai International Centre on Saturday.

Employment Realities

On the other side of the picture, graduates make up two-thirds of the total unemployed population in the state. Forty percent of young women and 10 percent of young men are neither working nor studying or in any training program. However, over an eight-year period up to 2025, overall unemployment among those aged 15 to 29 fell from 26 percent to 14 percent. The share of young people who were not in work, education, or training also dropped from 34 percent to 25 percent. Additionally, the share of young women participating in work grew from 19 percent to 25 percent.

Wages And Officials

Low pay remains a major hurdle for young earners in the state. Seventy-one percent of workers between 15 and 29 years old earn less than 20,000 rupees a month. Despite this, the average regular salary for workers in this age bracket rose by 17 percent to reach 17,100 rupees in real terms over the same eight-year period. Several notable figures attended the launch event for the handbook, including C. Chandramouli, Managing Director of the Chennai International Centre; M. Suresh Babu, Director of the Madras Institute of Development Studies; Ramesh Mangaleswaran, Senior Partner Emeritus at McKinsey; and Ruchi Gupta, Executive Director of the Future of India Foundation.

Context

Surveys on youth opportunity help policymakers understand the gap between education levels and actual job market outcomes in a state. Knowing how many young people remain out of school and work guides decisions on vocational training and job creation. Similar reports are frequently used to track economic progress across different regions of India.