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Age Structural Transition and Its Impact on Population Aging in India

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Handbook of Aging, Health and Public Policy

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Abstract

Age structural transition is underway in India since the last five decades. If we consider the broad age groups, currently, around 26% of the population in India is under age 15, the share of the working age of 15–64 is around 67%, and the proportion 65+ is 7%. This is likely to move to 18%, 67%, and 15%, respectively, in 2050. Although India has been experiencing the first demographic dividend since the last two or three decades, we could not reap the expected economic benefits during this period, mainly due to structural deficiencies and inadequate employment generation. India’s population is expected to grow by about 34% due to population momentum. Now, let us turn to population aging in India. The median age was 26.8 years in 2015 and projected to increase to 38.1 years by 2050. The proportion of aged 60+ was just 5% in 1951 which grew to 7.5% in 2001 and is expected to reach 12.4% in 2026. Currently, it stands around 10.7%. It may be noted that the proportion 60+ has doubled in India during the last 100 years. Aging challenges in India are enormous – rising burden of non-communicable diseases, a vulnerable female-heavy older adult population, a changing family structure, and a lack of social safety net. This inevitable demographic shift will require complex and ambitious changes and innovations in health, fiscal, and social policies.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Demography, University of Kerala (Retd), Thiruvananthapuram, India

    P. S. Nair

  2. The International Institute of Migration and Development, Thiruvananthapuram, India

    P. S. Nair

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  1. P. S. Nair
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Section Editor information

  1. International Institute for Population Sciences, Mumbai, India

    U S Mishra

  2. The International Institute of Migration and Development, THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, Kerala, India

    S Sunitha

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Nair, P.S. (2023). Age Structural Transition and Its Impact on Population Aging in India. In: Handbook of Aging, Health and Public Policy. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-1914-4_143-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-1914-4_143-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore

  • Print ISBN: 978-981-16-1914-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-981-16-1914-4

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