India, March 30 -- India has more than 360 million young people aged 15-29, comprising nearly one-third of the working-age population. As the State of Working India 2026 highlights, converting our demographic dividend into an economic dividend through education, skilling and employment is crucial. While India's performance in increasing gross enrolment rates at all levels of education (including college) has been remarkable, high unemployment among educated youth indicates that the transition from education to employment remains a challenge.

Little is known about this transition, in part due to lack of data that allows us to track young people as they complete education and begin their job search. In this article we use data from the Per...