Abstract
Countries that aim at capturing a Demographic Dividend should target improving their dependency ratio. To reach this objective, they need to develop policies at different levels. The first one is demographic: they need to control the mortality and fertility rates so that the ratio between the “pre- and post- working age” population and the “working age” population improves. The second one is employment: they need to increase the labor market’s absorptive capacity so that the ratio between the “unemployed” population and the “employed” population improves. The third one is socioeconomic: they need to increase the average income (starting with the minimum wage) so that the ratio between the individuals “consuming more than they earn” and the individuals “earning more than they consume” improves. Finally, the fourth level is macroeconomic: fiscal and monetary policies should ensure that the financial resources liberated by a decrease in the dependency burden are productively invested to boost economic growth.
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Notes
- 1.
The concept of dependency burden is in many respects similar to the global burden of disease as dependency is considered as a global cost that should be borne by the whole economy of a country, and especially by those who are contributing to the GDP of this economy. This global cost includes all direct (at household level) and indirect (at meso and macro levels) expenditures that are needed to bring an educated and healthy youth to working age as well as ensuring a decent retirement to the elderly.
- 2.
The Sahel Women’s Empowerment and Demographic Dividend (SWEDD) project countries are Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad, Cote d’Ivoire, Mali, Mauritania and Niger.
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Turbat, V. (2022). Policies Needed to Capture Demographic Dividends. In: May, J.F., Goldstone, J.A. (eds) International Handbook of Population Policies. International Handbooks of Population, vol 11. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-02040-7_19
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