India's Middle Class: Crisis Amidst Growth

0:00It's March 29th. I'm Corey with The Story, and this is Global News Today, World News Powered by AI. India's middle class is hurting bad, even with degrees and jobs. Automation in AI are wiping out the stable gigs that built their lives, like call centers and clerical work. Costs for basics like food, cars, and medical bills are jumping 11 to 14% a year, doubling every 8 years, while paychecks barely. Budge. White college job growth has crashed from 11% before 2020 to just 1% now. The IT sector, employing 8 million grads, is shedding workers fast. One AI tool replaced a 3,000 person call center. 8 million new grads hit the market yearly, but even top IIT schools see 8,000 of 21,500 grads, jobless. Folks are scrambling, turning to risky stock trades and futures and options, where 9 million Indians lose 12 billion dollars a year, matching the education budget. Delivery guys and engineers borrow for rent and bills, not

1:03just luxuries. Nearly half of families have personal loans, with 40% of income going to debt payments. Dets exploding. Non-housing loans beat levels in the US and China, trapping 5 to 10% of borrowers and cycles of new loans for old ones. Former spending's tanked, FMCG grow from 11% to 3%, cars flat, durables at 1 to 2%, that 60% GDP driver is stalling the whole economy. Grad unemployment hits 29%, 9 times non-grads, flipping the dream of education as a ticket out. This squeeze class puts the bills but gets no political love. Will India fix it before the decade ends?