Question: Outline the effects of a change in the dependency ratio on developing and developed countries.
Please write no more than 300 words and be careful to answer the question.
Answers due in by Wednesday the 29th of February.
Good luck.
Mr Wickham.
The depending population is growing in many countries economies. The working population in an economy supports the dependent population. People in work not only produce goods and services for themselves, but also for people who don’t work/cannot work. We define the dependant population as people who are too young, too old, or too old to work. School and college students in education and the unemployed are also included in this. Dependency ratio is the ratio of dependents (people younger than 15 or older than 64) to the working-age population--those ages 15-64. Data are shown as the proportion of dependents per 100 working-age population. The higher the dependency ratio, the more unemployment and the more likely its a developing country (healthcare, education, living standards, economies-low/poor)
ReplyDeleteIn developing countries, the dependency ratio is high and rising in contrast to developed countries, where the ratio is low but also rising. In developing countries where the dependency ratio is much higher than in developed, birth rates are much higher and the number of young people and children increases, whereas in developed, there are low birth rates and death rates and these are increasing as well as the number of old retired people. Developed countries with low dependency ratio have high life expectancy and 1/3 people in these countries by 2050 are expected to live over 60 years. Contradictory, in developing, life expectancy is relatively low, poor skills and education, lack of industrial base constrains growth of working population. Due to the low dependency ratio in developing countries, net inward migration has boosted working populations but has also increases pressure on housing, education, healthcare and welfare system; discordant to this, developed countries outward migration is reducing working population, many less developed countries have lost skilled workers including doctors, engineering and entrepreneurs.
In any economy the working population supports the dependent population by paying different types of taxes. These are used for government policies and supporting the dependent population which are the people that are too young, too old or injured too much so that they can not or are not being able to work. Also unemployed people who can work but do not have a job are also a dependent population, as the government has to pay the unemployed benefits for them.
ReplyDeleteThe dependency ratio is the proportion of total population to the working population. It has some effects on the economies. One of them is that it prevents from economic growth as it wastes the labour (dependant population) that can be used for getting the economy better and part of the taxes paid by working population has to be spent on them where as it has an opportunity cost of being used for the government policies.
The dependency ration affects the economies in a way of stealing money and can slow down the development, which is economic growth, balance of payments, living standards and others.
If it is a usual exam question then it will start form the second paragraph:
The dependency ratio is the proportion of total population to the working population. It has some effects on the economies. One of them is that it prevents from economic growth as it wastes the labour (dependant population) that can be used for getting the economy better and part of the taxes paid by working population has to be spent on them where as it has an opportunity cost of being used for the government policies.
The dependency ration affects the economies in a way of stealing money and can slow down the development, which is economic growth, balance of payments, living standards and others.
I doubt I’ve done everything needed…
The dependency ratio shows the number of people each person in work has to support in a given country. Dependency ratios are rising in most of the countries as a result of increasing numbers of either young of older people.
ReplyDeleteDeveloped countries are growing their dependency ratios because low birth and death rates are reducing the total population although the number of older and retired people keeps growing rapidly. This is a huge problem as this brings as a consequence an increase in demand for health care, leisure and pensions whilst the working population is not renewed fast enough to compensate that.
On the other hand developing countries are experiencing almost the opposite situation. Although death rates are also declining as result of better levels of health care, birth rates are very high. As result of this, population keeps growing very fast. Dependency ratios also grow because children under 15 years of age account for 40% to 50% of the population. However, children at work is unfortunately a common practice in many of these countries. As these countries develop their economies, birth rates will tend to reduce and as result of this the dependency ratios should be lower in the future.
Migration will probably compensate this problem as young people from developing countries will migrate to developed countries in search of higher living standards and income. This will result in a growth of the working population in developed countries that will help to reduce the dependency ratio issue. Another decision that the governments of developed countries may need to take is to increase the age of retirement which will result in a growth of the working population and a reduction of dependency levels.
The dependency ratio shows the number of people each person in work has to support in a given country. Dependency ratios are rising in most of the countries as a result of increasing numbers of either young of older people.
ReplyDeleteDeveloped countries are growing their dependency ratios because low birth and death rates are reducing the total population although the number of older and retired people keeps growing rapidly. This is a huge problem as this brings as a consequence an increase in demand for health care, leisure and pensions whilst the working population is not renewed fast enough to compensate that.
On the other hand developing countries are experiencing almost the opposite situation. Although death rates are also declining as result of better levels of health care, birth rates are very high. As result of this, population keeps growing very fast. Dependency ratios also grow because children under 15 years of age account for 40% to 50% of the population. However, children at work is unfortunately a common practice in many of these countries. As these countries develop their economies, birth rates will tend to reduce and as result of this the dependency ratios should be lower in the future.
Migration will probably compensate this problem as young people from developing countries will migrate to developed countries in search of higher living standards and income. This will result in a growth of the working population in developed countries that will help to reduce the dependency ratio issue. Another decision that the governments of developed countries may need to take is to increase the age of retirement which will result in a growth of the working population and a reduction of dependency levels.
The dependent population are the people who are too young, too old or too ill to work, Basically the people who can not or do not work. The working population supports the dependent population. The working population produce goods and services for themselves and for the dependent population.
ReplyDeleteIn some countries the dependent population grows relative to the working population. the dependency ratio is used to measure the amount of dependent population relative to the working population.
In developed countries the dependency ratio are low however they are rising. In developed countries due to the low birth rate and low death rate there is a higher number of dependent people. Also due to high life expectancy the number of dependent population increases. However to balance out the dependent population to the working population there is net inward migration which boosts the amount of working population. The government also tries to increase the retirement age so people dont retire so early and therefor reducing the amount of dependent population but increasing the working population.
In developing countries have high dependency ratios due to the lack of working population from net outward migration to developed countries which reduces the skilled workers. however to increase the working population and keep dependent population low, developing countries have high birth and death rates and low life expectancy there are less dependent population from old and retired people but however the dependent population is high due to unemployment
The Dependency Ratio is the total population divided by the working population. It measures the number of economically active population in an economy. The dependent population are the ones that are too young too old or too sick to work.
ReplyDeleteIn developed countries, dependency ratios are low but rising. The low birth and death rates are increasing the percentage of the old and retired people. Life expectancy is high and so people are living for longer. Around 250, in an average developed country, one in three people will be expected to be over 60 years old. This means that develop countries have and are rising with elderly population. The net inward migration has increased significantly working populations but has also increased pressure on things such as housing, education, health care etc.
In developing countries, dependency ratios are high and rising. High birth rates have increased the number of children and young people, but the life expectancy is quite low, due to poor skills and education to work, and lack of an industrial base stops growth within the working population. There is a general outward economic migration from developing countries to developed, because those with skills look tend to look for better opportunities in other more developed countries.
The dependency ratio of a country is the total population divided by the working population. The working population has to support themselves and for the people that are unable or cannot work. The dependent population includes those who are too young or too old to work. This percentage of population is growing especially in developing countries. To prevent this, the government puts a set retirement age and encourages the younger generation to stay in school longer, in order to be able to find a good job later on.
ReplyDeleteDependency ratios in developing countries are rather high and rising, high births rates have increased the level of young unemployed people. There is a low life expectancy and little educational skills; also outward migration limits the work force in some countries.
The age distribution of a country is very important, in developing countries there are high birth rates; 40-50% of the pop. Is less than 15 years old, and less than 5% are older than 60. Also most employees work in the agricultural sector, but in China and India there is a rise in the manufacturing sector. Finally many people live in rural areas, but there is a big migration towards the cities, as there are better job opportunities.
The dependency ratio is the age-population of those not in the labour force (the dependent part) and those typically in the labour force (the productive part). It is used to measure the pressure on the productive population.
ReplyDeleteThe working population therefore need to not only support themselves but also the dependent population, including people too young, old or ill to work.
In a developing country, there is a high birth rate, a high death rate and a relatively low life expectancy, compared to that of a developed country. This means that while the population will be relatively young, the dependency ratio will remain lower than that of a developed country, as there is a large labour force, with fewer people in retirement. However, the dependency ratio is increasing. Developing countries are starting to have higher life expectancy, meaning an older population. This means that the labour force will have to support a larger amount of the population. Some developing countries have low dependency ratios, such as China, with a ratio of 1.66. This means that living standards may rise.
In a developed country, many young people are encouraged to stay in education for longer, and more people take earlier retirement of work, tending to live linger. People in work therefore have increasingly more people to support and living standards fall. This is a major problem for many developed countries such as Japan, whose dependency ratio is 1.92.
Well done everyone. Wanted clear definitions of dependenct ratio and how it differes between developed and developing countries. Good use of examples and its a good question to use staistics to show the changing nature of dependancy and its resulting problems. The answer also needed discussion of the effects of an ageing population in developed countries.
ReplyDeleteSam: B
Good.
Emeline: C
Not very good organisation of your answer. Developed countries?
Sara: B
Good answer.
Felipe: B
Good answer
Ibon: B
Good answer
Sanzhar: B
Good answer.
Altair: B
Good answer.