South Asia as of today stands at a demographic crossroad.The region has one of the largest youth populations in the world. Ideally, the region should have been poised for an economic take-off. Instead, you will find millions of young people struggling to find meaningful employment or jobs. What is often regarded as a demographic dividend is increasingly becoming a demographic pressure, with serious implications for social stability and political governance.

At the heart of the crisis lies a deep mismatch between education and employment. Over the past two decades, access to higher education has spread rapidly across the region. The expansion has however been largely quantitative, not qualitative. Universities and colleges continue to produce graduates with limited practical skills, while labour markets demand skill, technical expertise, digital competence, and vocational training that most institutions at different levels fail to provide.

Economic growth in the region has also failed to translate into adequate job creation. South Asia’s growth has largely been driven by capital-intensive sectors, automation, and service industries that absorb only a small, urban-centric workforce. As a result, GDP growth figures often mask a reality of jobless growth, where economic expansion benefits a narrow segment of society while excluding the majority of young people.

A Socially Frustrated Generation

Traditional sectors that once used to absorb surplus labour are no longer completely reliable. Agriculture, still employing a large share of the population, is increasingly unable to support young workers due to land fragmentation, low productivity, and the climate stress for the last few years. Manufacturing, which led to employment growth in East and Southeast Asia, has failed to expand at a comparable scale in the region, leaving a critical gap in the labour absorption.

For most young people, employment exists largely in the informal economic sectors. Insecure, low-paid, and unregulated jobs dominate the landscape, offering little social protection or long-term mobility. Underemployment has become as serious a problem as unemployment itself, creating a new generation that is working, yet economically vulnerable and socially frustrated.

The crisis is particularly severe for young women. South Asia records some of the lowest female labour force participation rates globally. Cultural norms, safety concerns, unpaid care work, and lack of supportive workplace policies combine to keep women out of the workforce. This exclusion not only deepens gender inequality but also represents a massive economic loss for already strained economies.

Persistently high unemployment rate among the youth carries significant political and social consequences. Disillusionment among young people weakens trust in institutions, fuels protest movements, and, in some contexts, increases susceptibility to crime, populism, or radical ideologies. The inability of the states to deliver employment undermines the legitimacy of democratic governance across the region.

Seeking Employment Abroad

Migration has emerged as a temporary pressure valve. Millions of South Asian youth seek employment abroad, particularly in the Gulf region and Southeast Asia, and remittances provide vital support to the respective domestic economies. However, this model is temporary. It sometimes exposes workers to exploitation, creates dependency on external labour markets, and does little to address structural employment failures back home.

Demographic Dividend Narrowing

Government responses to youth unemployment remain largely fragmented and short-term. Employment schemes often focus on optics rather than outcomes, lacking coordination between education policy, industrial planning, and labour market reforms. Without a comprehensive approach that links skills development with sustainable job creation, such initiatives risk becoming political slogans rather than real solutions.

South Asia’s unemployment challenge is unfolding differently across different regional countries, yet driven by almost similar structural failures. India’s scale magnifies the risks of jobless growth; Pakistan’s instability deepens youth disillusionment; Sri Lanka’s educated unemployment reflects long-standing policy neglect; and Bangladesh’s export-led success masks limited employment diversification. Unless these states move beyond fragmented schemes and adopt employment-centred growth, skill-linked education, and gender-inclusive labour reforms, the region’s youthful population will shift from being a potential dividend to a shared strategic vulnerability.

The window for reaping a demographic dividend is narrow and rapidly closing. South Asia’s youth bulge will not last indefinitely. Without urgent reforms in education quality, manufacturing growth, gender inclusion, and labour market governance, the region risks converting a historic opportunity into a long-term liability. The challenge is no longer about having a young population, but about whether states can productively employ it.

(The author is an educationist and columnist based in Kupwara, Jammu & Kashmir, India. He writes on educational,social and youth related issues. Views expressed are personal. He can be reached at rayeesmasroor111@gmail.com)