The research paper attempts to investigate the challenges faced by the Indian demographic dividend. The research corroborates primary research obtained from interviews of two subject matter experts and secondary researches from various papers. The findings of this research indicate that unemployment; poverty and mental health are closely linked challenges, which have adversely impacted the Indian youth’s ability to provide itself as a “demographic dividend”. Unemployment has lead to the economic output to fall, leading to conditions associated with absolute poverty and mental health. The Indian youth is facing both economic and psychological crisis due to the lack of availability of sufficient skill development policies, adequate jobs and educated population. This paper reinforces the need of new skill development policies, increasing awareness of mental health issues and better education institutions to combat these challenges.

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Keywords: Demographic Dividend, Unemployment, Poverty, Mental Health.