Question

Final Project Details:

1. Conduct a research on the demographic profile, and dependency ratio of a country of your choice.
2. Analyze the economic system, and the major problems that are being faced by such country.
3. Make a report to the policy planners regarding your analysis, and give some recommendations to manage the problems identified

Answer 1

I choose India for demographic profile and dependency ratio analysis.

1. Demographic profile of India

1. Total population: 135.26 crores

2. Sex ratio: 924 females per 1000 males

3. Percentage of female population: 48.04%

4. Percentage of male population: 51.96%

5. Population growth rate: 1.1% (2020)

6. Birth rate: 18.2 births/ 1000 population (2020)

7. Death rate: 7.3 deaths/ 1000 population (2020)

8. Infant mortality rate: 29.94 deaths/ 1000 live births (2020)

9. Urban population: 34.03%

10. Population density: 464 per km square

11. Literacy rate: 74.04%

12. Life expectancy: 69.27 years (2018)

According to the World Bank group, the dependency ratio of India in 2018 was 49.78. In India, the following formula is used to calculate the dependency ratio:

Dependency ratio= (individuals younger than 15 and older than 64) / (working individuals aged 15 to 64).

A ratio of 49.78 is quite high meaning that a smaller number of employed individuals have to support a relatively large number of unemployed people.

2. India operates under a mixed economic system. Both private and governtment sector take active part in developmental activities.

Major problems faced by Indian economy are as follows:

1. Unemployment: This is by far the largest economic problem faced in India. A large population of Indian youth are unemployed. More than 31 million people in India are unemployed. Given the huge population burden of 136 crore people, it because a challenging task for the Indian economy to provide jobs for all.

2. Poor heath facilities: Another major problem faced by the Indian economy is lack of health care services. There are only 0.7 hospital beds per 1000 people. Health expenditure as percentage of GDP is less than 2%.

3. Lack of quality education: Neither primary education nor higher education in India is satisfactory. Indian education system still follows orthodoxial teaching methods which do not translate into what the job markets are looking for.

4. Unequal distribution of income: Income distribution in India is highly skewed. India's top 1% richest population holds 73% of the country's total wealth.

Huge budget deficits, Balance of Payments deterioration, industrial sickness, huge private debts, regional inequalities are some of the other problems faced by Indian economy.

Policy Recommendations:

1. To solve unemployment problem, more vocational training should be imparted to students. Education is key to solve unemployment problem. Having industry-oriented curriculums in schools and colleges is utmost essential. Next, government should support small industries and entrepreneurs. Providing microfinance to people via developmental banks is very effective to help small industries survive and thereby reduce unemployment. Government should come up with more unemployment schemes like MGNREGA, Prime Minister Rojgar Yojana, etc.

2. Government should allocate more funds to the health sector to improve country's health care facilities. More emphasis should be given to medical research and development and hospitals and clinics should be set up in remote areas of the country to assist the rural poor. Moreover, health care insurances should be mandated by the state and central governments.

3. Education sector in India can be improved with the help of Public Private Partnership. Under such a model, the quality of education will improve and school fees will also remain affordable due to goverment intervention. Next, schools and college curriculums should be thoroughly revised so that they are in line with the job market. Students and teachers should be incentivised to thrive for highest quality of education. This can be done by rewarding students and teachers for their excellent contribution to education sector.

4. Reducing income inequality is a difficult task indeed. It cannot be done overnight. There should be sustained efforts for a long time to reduce the gap for the rich and poor. Creating adequate job opportunities for people, philanthropic works by people, increasing minimum wage rate, income redistribution, progressive tax system are some of the ways to combat the evil of income inequality.