In the 21st century, the populations of the world's nations
will display large and long-lived changes in age structure. Many of
these began with fertility change and are amplified by declining
mortality and by migration within and between nations. Demography will
matter in this century not by force of numbers, but by the pressures of
waves of age structural change.
Many developing countries are in relatively early stages of fertility
decline and will experience age waves for two or more generations. These
waves create shifting flows of people into the key age groups, greatly
complicating the task of managing development, from building human
capabilities and creating jobs to growing industry, infrastructure and
institutions. In this book, distinguished scientists examine key
demographic, social, economic, and policy aspects of age structural
change in developing economies.
This book provides a joint examination of dimensions of age structural
change that have often been considered in isolation from each other (for
example, education, job creation, land use, health); it uses case
studies to examine policy consequences and options and develops
qualitative and formal methods to analyze the dynamics and consequences
of age structural change.