Demography of ageing indian experience
Roy, S.G.
Journal of the Indian Anthropological Society 20(3): 258-283
1985
ISSN/ISBN: 0019-4387 Document Number: 422229
The paper focuses on research concerned with the phenomenon of aging in India, using data from the national census series. Judged against any standard old-age scale, Indian population is still demographically young, since the demographic factors causing changes in age structure has rather been weak so far. However, historical parallels and decline in fertility and sustained improvement in survival suggest that the changes in the age structure may not be long delayed. The study considers several indicators of population ageing and examines the dynamics of changes in the population age composition over a period of hundred years. Another important consideration is the survival of infants to old age (60 years and over) and further duration of life at this age. Results of analysis show the decreasing number of premature death before old age with concomitant fall in infant mortality, which entails an increase in the proportion of older persons. While the overall population growth has been slowing down, that of the aged has been accelerating. These has been an increasing trend of old dependency ratio in recent decades, implying more costs of supporting elderly in future years, the share of the young dependants in the total dependency costs being higher. The age-curve of old population approximates a reverse-J. shape, indicating sharp and sudden fall in the number of old people with age. Despite higher survival for females than for males at old ages, the sex ratio at ages 60 older tends to be unfavourable to them. Until now the aging of the population in India, though small, occurred mainly from the apex rather than from the base because of the decrease in mortality in the older age range and almost unchanging fertility. Since old women mostly outlive old men, the aged males generally enjoy an intact conjugal life upto the end of their life. In India, the process of ageing of population is still in an early stage of development, but in absolute terms the size of the aged population already exceeds some of the national populations of the world. The prospect for the ageing process is that India will enter 21st Century with more than 75 million old people.