VOA慢速英语：失业的印度年轻人错过了经济增长

Young Indians without Jobs Miss out on Growing Economy

失业的印度年轻人错过了经济增长

Recent studies say India is soon to be the most populous country in the world, with about 1.4 billion people.

最近的研究表明，印度很快将成为世界上人口最多的国家，拥有大约14亿人口。

More than half of India’s population is under the age of 30. That means India has hundreds of millions of working-age people.

印度一半以上的人口年龄在30岁以下。这意味着印度有有数以亿计的劳动适龄人口。

Financial experts note that the country’s economy is growing quickly. However, many young Indians are missing out on the growth because they do not have jobs.

金融专家指出，该国经济正在快速增长。然而，许多年轻的印度人因为没有工作而错过了经济增长。

Rafiq Nagar is an extremely poor area of Mumbai. About 800,000 people live there in poor conditions. Among them is 23-year-old Nizamudin Abdul Rahim Khan. He struggles to find work. He spends his time playing cricket on the street. Khan said he earns about $122 each month by working as a laborer for home repairs or construction.

拉菲克纳加尔是孟买一个极其贫困的地区。大约有80万人生活在恶劣的条件下。其中包括23岁的尼扎穆丁·阿卜杜勒·拉辛汗。他努力寻找工作，但却只能把时间花在街上打板球上。汗说，作为房屋维修或建筑工人，他每月收入约122美元。

Naseem Jafar Ali works for a nonprofit organization in Mumbai. He said Khan is not the only young person who wants to work but cannot find a job.

纳西姆·贾法尔·阿里在孟买的一家非营利组织工作。他说，汗并不是唯一一个想工作却找不到工作的年轻人。

During the first part of the COVID-19 pandemic, the unemployment rate in India’s cities rose above 20 percent.

在COVID-19大流行的初期，印度城市的失业率上升到20%以上。

While the rate has gone down recently, many full-time jobs have not returned. As a result, more people are doing casual work. That means they are not working full time or every day.

虽然失业率最近有所下降，但许多全职工作并没有恢复。因此，越来越多的人从事临时工。这意味着他们不是全职工作或每天工作。

While India’s economy is growing, experts say the country will not reach its potential if such large numbers of people struggle to get work.

虽然印度经济正在增长，但专家表示，如果如此大量的人难以找到工作，印度将无法发挥其潜力。

Radhicka Kapoor studies unemployment for the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations. She said people who are officially unemployed are “only the tip of the iceberg.” She said a larger problem is underemployment and those who are unemployed but not correctly counted. She called it “disguised unemployment.”

拉迪卡·卡普尔在印度国际经济关系研究委员会研究失业问题。她说，正式失业的人“只是冰山一角”。她说，一个更大的问题是就业不足和那些失业但没有被统计的人。她称之为“变相失业”。

Khan said he helps his family with the money he makes. But he wants to be able to do more. He said, “if I get a permanent job, then there will be no problem.”

汗说，他用赚来的钱帮助他的家人。但他希望能够做得更多。他说:“如果我能找到一份固定的工作，那就没有问题了。”

Jayati Ghosh is an economist who is concerned about young people missing out on the country’s growth. She said there are a lot of young people whose families spent money on their education. But those people still cannot find work. “That’s horrifying,” she said. “It’s not just the question of potential loss to the economy … it is a lost generation.”

贾亚提·戈什是一位经济学家，他担心年轻人会错过国家的增长。她说，有很多年轻人的家庭在他们的教育上花了钱。但这些人仍然找不到工作。“这太可怕了，”她说。“这不仅仅是经济潜在损失的问题……这是迷惘的一代。”

Ghosh said the fall of small businesses has been the biggest problem in India. She called it a “collapse.”

戈什说，小企业的衰落一直是印度最大的问题。她称之为“崩溃”。

Ghosh said recent government policies hurt small businesses, and so did the pandemic. The government said over 10,000 small businesses closed between April 2022 and March 2023. A year earlier, 6,000 such businesses closed.

戈什说，最近的政府政策伤害了小企业，疫情也是如此。政府表示，在2022年4月至2023年3月期间，有超过1万家小企业倒闭。一年前，有6000家同类企业倒闭。

As a result, many people who would have worked for these small businesses in past years are now on their own. But self-employed people only earn about $178 per month. People working for businesses make about $212 per month.

因此，许多在过去几年为这些小企业工作的人现在都要自力更生了。但是自雇人士每月只能挣178美元，为企业工作的人每月大约能挣212美元。

The problem is more severe in India’s major cities. There are 150 million working-age people in cities, but less than half have jobs. In recent years, many young people have come to cities from rural areas in search of work.

这个问题在印度的主要城市更为严重。城市有1.5亿适龄劳动人口，但只有不到一半的人有工作。近年来，许多年轻人从农村来到城市找工作。

Even people who have an education and job experience cannot find work. Arshad Ali Ansari is a 22-year-old student. He lives in the same neighborhood as Khan, the young man who passes time playing cricket. Ansari talked about his brother, who lost his job at a bank during the pandemic. Now he helps his father paint houses. The family of eight lives in a small room. They live on about $240 per month.

即使是有学历和工作经验的人也找不到工作。阿尔沙德·阿里·安萨里是一名22岁的学生。他和以打板球打发时间的汗住在同一个社区。安萨里谈到了他的弟弟，他在大流行期间失去了银行的工作。现在他帮助父亲粉刷房子。一家八口住在一个小房间里。他们每月的生活费约为240美元。

“My brother had an education, he had experience,” Ansari said. His sister lost her job, too. She was a social worker. She does not think she will find another job.

“我哥哥受过教育，他有工作经验。”安萨里说。他妹妹也丢了工作。她是一名社会工作者。她认为自己再也找不到别的工作了。

Pranjul Bhandari is an economist for the banking company HSBC. He recently wrote a report about India’s jobs problem. He said the nation will need to create 70 million new jobs over the next 10 years. However, the country is only set to create 24 million new jobs. That, he said, means 46 million people will miss out on earnings.

普兰尤·班达里是汇丰银行的经济学家。他最近写了一篇关于印度就业问题的报告。他说，未来10年，印度需要创造7000万个新的就业机会，然而，该国只能创造2400万个。他说，这意味着有4600万人将失去收入。

I’m Dan Friedell.

丹·弗里德尔报道。