Question

Disguised unemployment means:

• A. More manpower than needed in industry.
• B. More manpower than needed in service sector.
• C. Employment of more people than necessary in the agriculture sector.
• D. Inadequate employment in industrial, service sector.

Hint:

Disguised Unemployment = Extra workers present but production remains unchanged.

Answer 1

The Correct Option is C

Concept: Disguised unemployment is a situation where more workers are engaged in an activity than are actually required. Some workers appear to be employed, but their contribution to production is negligible or zero.

Step 1: Understand disguised unemployment. Suppose a farm requires only five workers to produce a certain quantity of crops. If eight workers are employed on the same farm:

• Production remains unchanged.

• Three workers are effectively unnecessary.

• Those workers are disguisedly unemployed.

Step 2: Occurrence in agriculture. This type of unemployment is commonly observed in:

• Rural areas.

• Family farming.

• Traditional agricultural activities.
Agriculture is therefore the classic example used in economics.

Step 3: Why not other options? Though overemployment may occur elsewhere, disguised unemployment is most characteristically associated with agriculture. Hence the option mentioning agriculture is the most accurate.

Step 4: Conclusion. Disguised unemployment refers to employment of more workers than necessary in agriculture. Hence, option (C) is correct.