Republic of India United States of Australia

Population size 1,277,952,370 (2015) 23,769,083 (2015)

Size of labour force ~ 487million (2012), the second largest after China

~13 million

Employment Sectors

53% in agricultural sector 11% in manufacturing sector 11% in construction sector 9% in trade sector 4% in transport sector(2010)

56% in services sector 13% in retail trade

sector 10% in construction

sector 9% in manufacturing

sector 5% in agricultural sector(2011)

Unemployment Rate 4.9% (2014) Lowest in Gujarat (1.2%) Highest in Sikkim (15.8%)

6.3% (2015) Lowest is Northern

Territory (3.60%) Highest in Tasmania

(6.80%)

Youth Unemployment Rate

18.1% (2012) 14.2% (2015)

Labour Force Participation Rate

54% (2013) 64.7% (2015)

Average monthly wage

$295 (USD)(2012)

$2,610 (USD)(2012)

Child Labour Yes 4.35 million (< 2%) 5-14 year olds

working (2011) Number of occurrences on the decline

since 1990s

Rare

India and Australia's labour force differ vastly in many qualities. With a population roughly 54 times the size of Australia, India's labour force is therefore also relatively large, 37 times the size of Australia's labour force. Compared to Australia, a lower proportion of India’s population is in the labour force as a greater percentage of the population is too young to work.

The majority of India’s working population is employed in the agricultural sector. As labour is very cheap in India, most agricultural products are produced locally and don’t need to be imported, unlike Australia. After the primary sector, the secondary sector is next largest in India, followed by the tertiary sector. According to the three-sector theory, countries with a low per capita income such as India generally have the majority of the national income achieved through production in the primary sector. Unlike India, very little of Australia’s population work in the agricultural and manufacturing sectors. Historically, the vast majority of Australia’s working population have worked in the primary and secondary sectors. However, these sectors have declined significantly over the last century, due to importing goods from other countries being cheaper than producing it locally (mostly due to cost of labour). Therefore, the tertiary and quaternary sectors have risen and now dominate Australia’s working population. According to the three-sector theory, countries with a high

per capita income such as Australia generally have the majority of the national income achieved through production in the tertiary sector. India and Australia have fairly similar unemployment rates. India is currently in a boom and thus has a low unemployment rate. However, the unemployment rate has a great range between states, varying from 1.2% to 15.8%. Meanwhile, Australia is in a downturn and hence has a slightly higher unemployment rate. Australia’s states have a far more uniform unemployment rate than India. Like most countries in the world, India and Australia are facing the problem of high youth unemployment.

Australia is a fully developed country and is one of the wealthiest and therefore has a very high national average wage. Although being a newly industrialised country, India still faces a poverty crisis, reflected in its low national average monthly wage of $2,610.

Child labour is still a widespread problem in India, despite India’s constitution prohibiting it. From 1998 to 2011, the total number of child labour, aged 5-14, was reduced from 12.6 million to 4.35 million. Child labour likewise is prohibited in Australia, but it is not as nearly as prevalent as in India.

http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/mf/6202.0

http://www.tradingeconomics.com/india/unemployment-rate

http://www.tradingeconomics.com/australia/unemployment-rate

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labour_in_India