Demographic Dividend

A country is said to be in the Demographic dividend phase WHEN

• The majority of its population is in the working-age group.
• The dependency ratio is minimum, i.e. very few people below 15 & above 64.
• The age pyramid shows a bulge in the middle.

• As East Asian countries in the past, and Ireland today, India is supposed to benefit from a ‘demographic dividend.’ This dividend results from large working-age people with a relatively small percentage of older people to support.
• As of 2024, the median age of Indian is  28 years old, compared with 43 in China and the 38 in the United States and 48 in Japan. It implies a large and growing labour force, which can deliver unexpected benefits in terms of growth and prosperity.

• But to reap the Demographic Dividend, the government have to
  • Invest in education & skill development of the young generation.
  • Produce enough good jobs to absorb them in employment (78.5 lakh non-farm jobs needs to be created annually until 2030).

Otherwise, this huge population would become burden onerous to handle instead of becoming an asset.