The Demographic Structure of the Indian Society — Sociology STD 12 Humanities — Question

India has a very young population: The share of 15-60 population has increased from 53% to 59% but the below 15 and 60+ population. But, the age composition will see a change in the next 2 decades. The two ends of the spectrum i.e. below 15 and 60 + will increase. This young population is an advantage to India. This is what we call the Demographic Dividend. This dividend or advantage arises from the fact that the current generation of working age people is a relatively large one and it has only a relatively small old people to support. But this potential can be converted into actual growth only if the rise in the working age group is accompanied by increasing levels of education and employment.

1. If new entrants to the labour remain uneducated then their productivity remains low.
2. If they remain unemployed, then they are unable to earn at all and become dependents rather than earners.

This window of opportunity has to be used before the dependency ratio begins to increase. The dependency ratio fell from 79 in 1970 to 64 in 2005. But the process is likely to extend into this century with the age-based dependency ratio projected to fall to 48 in 2025 because of continued fall in the proportion of children and then rise to 50 by 2050 because of an increase in the proportion of the aged.