{"id":52151,"date":"2019-09-13T19:00:35","date_gmt":"2019-09-13T13:30:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogadmin.forumias.com\/?p=52151"},"modified":"2019-09-13T15:34:44","modified_gmt":"2019-09-13T10:04:44","slug":"7-pm-the-countrys-population-can-be-an-asset-it-is-not-a-liability-13th-september-2019","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/7-pm-the-countrys-population-can-be-an-asset-it-is-not-a-liability-13th-september-2019\/","title":{"rendered":"7 PM | The country\u2019s population can be an asset: it is not a liability | 13th September, 2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Context: <\/strong>India\u2019s\npopulation \u2013 assent not liability. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>More\nin news: <\/strong>Prime\nMinister Narendra Modi in his address to the nation from the ramparts of the\nRed Fort on Independence Day last month, said that rapid population\ngrowth\u2014described as a \u201cpopulation explosion&#8221;\u2014posed a formidable challenge\nto our future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Population explosion:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Population explosion\nrefers to the rapid and dramatic rise in world population that has occurred\nover the last few hundred years. <\/li><li>Between 1959 and 2000,\nthe world\u2019s population increased from 2.5 billion to 6.1 billion people. <\/li><li>According to United\nNations projections, the world population will be between 7.9 billion and 10.9\nbillion by 2050.<\/li><li>In Indian context, the\npopulation of India was around 361 million during the census of 1951. It\nreached over 1.21 billion during the census of 2011.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Primary\nReason of Population Explosion in India:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Family health, child survival and the\nnumber of children a woman has are closely tied to the levels of health and education.<\/li><li><strong>Poverty:\n<\/strong>The\npoor tend to have more children because child survival is low, son preference\nremains high, children lend a helping hand in economic activity for poorer\nhouseholds and so support the economic as well as emotional needs of the\nfamily. This is well known, well understood and well established.<\/li><li><strong>Low wealth:\n<\/strong>As\nthe National Family Health Survey-4 (2015-16) notes, women in the lowest wealth\nquintile have an average of 1.6 more children than women in the highest wealth\nquintile, translating to a total fertility rate of 3.2 children versus 1.5\nchildren moving from the wealthiest to the poorest.<\/li><li><strong>Illiteracy:\n<\/strong>Similarly,\nthe number of children per woman declines with a woman\u2018s level of schooling.\nWomen with no schooling have an average 3.1 children, compared with 1.7\nchildren for women with 12 or more years of schooling. This reveals the depth\nof the connections between health, education and inequality, with those having\nlittle access to health and education being caught in a cycle of poverty,\nleading to more and more children, and the burden that state control on number\nof children could impose on the weakest.<\/li><li><strong>Decrease in infant mortality rate:<\/strong>&nbsp;An\nimprovement in medical science and technology, wide usage of preventive drugs\n(vaccines), has reduced the infant mortality rate. There has been great\nimprovement in medical and health-care facilities during the past few decades.<\/li><li><strong>Increase in life expectancy:<\/strong>&nbsp;Due\nto improved&nbsp;living conditions, better hygiene and sanitation habits,\nbetter nutrition, health education, etc. the average life expectancy of human\npopulation has improved significantly. Steady supply of good quality food make\nsure that the population is well nourished. Populations grow when they are\nadequately nourished.<\/li><li><strong>Increased immigration:<\/strong>&nbsp;An\nincrease in immigration often contributes towards population explosion,\nparticularly in developed countries. It happens when a large number arrive at\nan already populated place with the intention to reside permanently.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>India\u2019s\nDemographic transition (Economic Survey 2018-19):<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>India is set to\nwitness a sharp slowdown in population growth in the next two decades. Although\nthe country as a whole will enjoy the \u2015demographic dividend\u2016 phase, some states\nwill start transitioning to an ageing society by the 2030s. The age\ndistribution, however, implies that India\u2018s working-age population will grow by\nroughly 9.7mn per year during 2021-31 and 4.2mn per year in 2031-41.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Demographic\nTrends:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>The average annual rate\nof population growth, which was 2.1% in 1951-1971 and 2.2% in 1971-1991,\ndropped to 1.8% in 1991-2011 and 1.3% in 2011-2016. <\/li><li>Birth rates (per 1,000\npopulation) dropped from 37 in 1971 and 29 in 1991 to 22 in 2011 and 19 in\n2016, while fertility rates (births per woman) dropped from 5.2 and 3.6 to 2.4\nand 2.3, respectively.<strong><\/strong><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"270\" height=\"167\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogadmin.forumias.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/cc.jpg?resize=270%2C167&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-52152\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>As per the NSSO Periodic Labour Force\nSurvey 2017-18, India\u2018s labour force participation rate or the age-group 15-59\nyears is around 53 per cent (80 per cent for males, 25 per cent for females).\nDepending on the trajectory of labour force participation during 2021-41,\nadditional jobs will need to be created to keep pace with the projected annual\nincrease in working-age population of 9.7 million during 2021-31 and 4.2\nmillion during 2031-41.<\/li><li>At the other end of the age scale,\npolicy makers need to prepare for ageing. This will need investments in health care\nas well as a plan for increasing the retirement age in a phased manner.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Projections of\nEconomic Survey (2018-19):<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>The\naverage annual population growth in India will slow progressively to 1.1%\nduring 2011-2021, 0.7% in 2021-2031 and 0.5% in 2031-2041. <strong><\/strong><\/li><li>The\nfertility rate will drop to 1.8 in 2021 and 1.7 in 2031. <strong><\/strong><\/li><li>It is\nworth noting that the natural replacement level fertility rate is 2.1, which\nmeans that an Indian woman would have to give birth on an average to 2.1\nchildren for the population size to remain constant. <strong><\/strong><\/li><li>In India,\ngiven the sex ratio, with more men than women compared to the natural level,\nthe replacement rate would need to be higher.<strong><\/strong><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Future scenario:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>India\u2019s\npopulation will continue to grow (at progressively slower rates), because of\nthe relatively high proportion of young people in our population.<\/li><li>The\nsilver lining is that the number of working-age people (20-59 years) and their\nshare in total population will continue to increase for more than two decades\nand peak at 59% in 2041.<\/li><li>For\nlow-income countries, where a significant proportion of the population is\nunderemployed, a large population that is expected to increase further is a\npotential asset rather than a liability.<\/li><li>The high\nproportion of young people in the population will mean an increase in our\nworkforce, more so, if a higher proportion of women enter the workforce.<\/li><li>It will\nalso mean an increase in savings rates for some time, as young people save\nwhile the old do not. This source of economic growth will not be available to\nmany Asian countries for long, as their workforce contracts, so that they would\nhave to rely on productivity increases to sustain growth.&nbsp;<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Conclusion: <\/strong>Large population can be a source of rapid economic growth,\nwhich could bring about a profound change in the well-being of\npeople.&nbsp;However, we can harness the demographic dividend only through\neducation that creates capabilities among our people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Source: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.livemint.com\/opinion\/columns\/opinion-the-country-s-population-can-be-an-asset-it-is-not-a-liability-1568313646428.html\">https:\/\/www.livemint.com\/opinion\/columns\/opinion-the-country-s-population-can-be-an-asset-it-is-not-a-liability-1568313646428.html<\/a><strong><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Context: India\u2019s population \u2013 assent not liability. More in news: Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his address to the nation from the ramparts of the Red Fort on Independence Day last month, said that rapid population growth\u2014described as a \u201cpopulation explosion&#8221;\u2014posed a formidable challenge to our future. Population explosion: Population explosion refers to the rapid&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/7-pm-the-countrys-population-can-be-an-asset-it-is-not-a-liability-13th-september-2019\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">7 PM | The country\u2019s population can be an asset: it is not a liability | 13th September, 2019<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":61,"featured_media":49370,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[130,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-52151","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-7-pm","category-public","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/7-PM.png?fit=1000%2C500&ssl=1","views":{"total":209,"cached_at":""},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52151","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/61"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=52151"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52151\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/49370"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52151"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52151"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52151"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}