DEMOGRAPHIC DIVIDEND AND URBANIZATION IN THIRD WORLD COUNTRIES
ABSTRACT
The demographic dividend refers to the accelerated economic growth that begins with changes in the age structure of a country’s population as it transitions from high to low birth and death rates. But the demographic dividend is not, however automatic. Enough policies and investments have to be developed to achieve the demographic dividend. The critical policy areas include:
i) Changing population structure, ii) Investing in health programs for children and women iii) Educating children and youth iv) Promoting good governance
v) Enacting policies for economic growth
WHAT IS DEMOGRAPHIC DIVIDEND?
The basic concept of Demographic Dividend is that the rapid and sustainable
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The demographic transition begins with break in mortality that shows a healthier population with a long life expectancy. A longer life expectancy causes fundamental changes in the way that people live. Attitudes about education, family, retirement, the role of women, and work all is likely to shift. If any society is taking a full advantage of its demographic dividend, it tends to experience deep-rooted changes in its culture, as its people become more valuable assets. With an increase in life expectancy, parents tend to choose to educate their children to more advanced levels. The parents also know that what benefits would each child get from schooling investments over a long working life and, with fewer children in a family; they can devote more time and money to each child. The result of this educational investment is that the labor force as a whole becomes more productive, promoting higher wages and a better standard of living. Women and men are being educated for longer, therefore tend to enter the workforce later, but they are likely to be more productive once they start working. All these mechanisms are heavily dependent on the policy environment. Only if there is sufficient flexibility in the labor market to allow its expansion, and if there are macroeconomic policies that permit and encourage investment, a growing number of adults will be productive. Similarly, people …show more content…
from high to low birth and death rates. There are many countries in the world that are successful in reducing the fertility and the mortality rate. But there are still some countries remaining with high levels of fertility. These countries are not poised for a demographic dividend. As long as the fertility and mortality rates remain high, the size of the child and adolescent population will be larger as compared to the working age population. This will require a large number of resources to invest in health and well being of the children. If the government fails to provide sufficient resources, the country would not be able to move toward a dividend.
Hence, to achieve a demographic transition, countries must focus on lowering fertility. This can be achieved by providing men and women with adequate information and services about family planning. Many women in developing countries wants to avoid becoming pregnant but do not use modern family planning method. This leads to almost 80 percent unwanted pregnancies. When women can themselves choose when and how often to become pregnant, they tend to have fewer children and are able to achieve the desired family size. A country’s population age structure can begin to change, setting the stage for demographic
An aging population is indeed a problem for the society and will possibly cause many social and economic difficulties in the future. According to David Foot (2003), professor of Economics at University of Toronto, an effective birth rate of 2.2% against current 1.75% will be necessary to replace the current work force in the near future and the government’s policy of bringing in more immigrants will eventually fail (Foot, 2003, 2). However some people predict that the increased size of an aging population will drive growth in the home, health care, and many other industries resulting in job creation and economic growth (Marketwire, 2013, 1). Majority of the people are of the opinion that the issue will be mainly in the health care and economic activity. As humans age, they start to develop health problems, leading to more visits to a medical clinic putting extra burden on health care system.
Educating the public about the importance of family planning is essential to reduce rapidly increasing birth rates. Human demographics have a profound effect on the population dynamics in both developed and developing nations. In more developed nations, there are significantly lower birth and death rates (Schneider). This would mean that the labor force of these nations is greatly limited. There is a risk of a bigger percentage of the elderly compared to the young generation. A higher older population undermines productivity, thereby inhibiting economic growth. In less developed nations, birth and death rates are high. Their economies struggle to maintain this high population. There is over-reliance on foreign aid. Labor is often transferred to the developed nations. The future of these nations is quite unpredictable (Das
Uhlenberg, Peter. 1992. “Population Aging and Social Policy.” Annual Review, Sociology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.
The effects of population control programs on demographic change were not instant, and it takes long serious effort to encourage the improvement of economic development in a country. According to Paul J. Gertler (1994, p. 33), “Population control is a key element in a country’s ability to maintain and improve its economic and social welfare”. Furthermore, this paper intends to explain why the change of population structure has an effect on the society’s economic condition in Indonesia with examining the demographic variables.
The existing U.S. population is over 315 million and rising. In the year 2030, 72 million Americans will be 65 or older, a 50 percent change in age demographics since the year 2000. The change is primarily due to the aging baby boomers, who were born at the end of World War II. Americans are living longer than ever befo...
Another consequence of the policy is a growing proportion of elderly people, the result of the concurrent drop in children born and rise in longevity since 1980. This is a serious concern for this, if not dealt with head on, would mean a decline in labor force for when a large part of the population is ageing together, it becomes a serious concern for a country, for it means a potential loss in economic activity in a
In the twentieth-century, the distribution of the population was 3 tiered and there was a large number of younger people than older people. Now in 2016 the population structure is difference because of a result of the decrease in fertility and the steady increase of life expectancy among individuals. In 2006 a low percentage of the population consisted of young people under the age of 15. There was also a low percentage of individuals 65 years and over. There was a high rate of people between the ages of 15-64. At these rates the population shows a projection of the elderly that may well exceed the population of children and young adults. Over the next 50 years the work group will consist of individuals which are similar to what it looked like in the 1960s. The aging of baby-boomers has caused a decline in the number of young adults compared to those individuals retiring. Canada is considered to be one of the youngest industrialized countries in the world. They have fewer senior citizens and more people in its population. The minority population of Canada has elevated and the number of people belonging to a minority group went from 1 million to 4 million. By 2017 the minority population is going to reach 7 million which will represent 1Canadian to
The Australian government will increase the age pension from 65 to 70 by 2035(Australian Department of Human services [AU]). This announcement has lots of challenges for Australian people who are under 50; some people support the rise and find it beneficial for the future economical life. However, others are against the announcement as it has lots of concerns for their future plan, as they have to work longer to save more for their retirement. The current population ageing put pressure on the young workers who support retirees and their families, at the same time it affect the economic development. So the rise of pension has advantages and disadvantages on the future life standard of most Australians. It is beneficial decision from the government to provide a productive and qualified future life.
...3) has previous suggested that “satisfying the unmet need for family planning alone could cut the number of maternal deaths by almost a third.”. On average, those with a relatively lower educational attainment and with lower decision-making autonomy are poorer than those with better economic status, educational attainment and empowerment (Gebreselassie, )
(Population) Soon as more of the baby boom generation start to turn 65 , the number of elders will be higher than the number of babies.
The cost of pregnancy prevention was drastically reduced when the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the nearly 100%-effective birth control pill (the Pill) in 1960. Whereas in developing countries, contraceptives are difficult to obtain due to restrictions based on gender roles, socio-economic status and cultures and their beliefs. Population over the years has been increasing specifically in developing countries, due to the high mortality rate and need to keep procreating. Our planet, already staggering under 6.5 billion people, is expecting to add another 2 billion by 2030, and perhaps 2 billion beyond that by 2050. Nearly all of them will be born in developing nations. This rising population could be controlled more if ways to prevent pregnancies were less expensive and were accepted throughout society’s norms. Family dynamics and roles are ever-changing and because of this, there is no traditional family sense. Nuclear families are a modern-day concept that mostly resides in developed countries such as Canada and the USA, but in developing countries the family is made up of cousins, aunts and uncles and grandparents: the extended family. Giving women the option of contraception is the single most important factor in achieving the "demographic transition"
What can countries do to counteract the impact of these demographic changes on their economic competitiveness?
Firstly, ageing population refers to a country with an increasing median age and its population having a declining fertility rate and life expectancy. The negative impact of this is that it will put a strain on the country itself as more counter measures have to be taken to aid the needs of these elderlies. Due to Singapore’s low birth rates, the government is having troubles replacing the older age people with younger ones.
...he second way to attempt to decrease the population is through increased active family planning programs. Especially in poor countries, it is a lot harder for women just to jump into the work force, and even harder for a poor country to become industrialized. For example, in Bangladesh, one of the world's poorest countries, birth rates have decreased from seven children per family to only 5.5. This is largely because forty percent of Bangladesh's woman now take part in some form of family planning.
There are many social problems plaguing the world, including the issue of aging inequality and elders. This social problem is significant because the baby boomers of the 1946-64s are now starting to be the youngest old. Our society is starting to, and needs to, change to accommodate the needs of the elderly. There are many different problems coming with this making people have many political viewpoints, theoretical perspectives, and solutions for this social problem. Baby boomers are a group of people that were born between the years of 1946 and 1964. Just nine months after WW II ended people were having babies at rates higher than ever before. In the year 1946 there were 3.4 million babies were born, nearly 20% more than the prior year. This