When we look at the impact by region, the results indicate that regional differences in fertility rates and the assumption concerning the regional location of immigrants lead to substantial regional differences in elderly
dependency ratios. Figure 5 presents the demographic projection by region according to the four scenarios.
As one way or another immigrants are going to come, then why not enjoy the process and in the meantime give ourselves a breathing space in dealing with rising
dependency ratios?
This claim is often supported with data about
dependency ratios. The
dependency ratio is a measure of the economic burden of the nonworking population of the population.
The debate on the possible economic effect of these demographic changes has centred on something known as
dependency ratios. In its most basic form, a
dependency ratio compares the number of citizens aged over 65 years and under 15 years to the number of citizens aged between these two ages.
Larger households, particularly those with high
dependency ratios, seem to be particularly vulnerable to falling into poverty and, if already poor, find it harder to escape.
This implies that the economic impact of
dependency ratios approaching those of the 1960s could actually be more significant.
By the mid-1990s the pension systems of the transitional economies were saddled with cripplingly high
dependency ratios. In Poland, pensioners totaled 61 percent of active workers by 1996; in Ukraine, the figure was 68 percent; in Bulgaria, 79 percent.
Dependency ratios express numerical relationships between the productive and nonproductive or dependent components of a population (Adamchak, 1993).
This edition's Fact File examines
dependency ratios in Asia-Pacific nations.
In the projections which underlie the study, OECD population [TABULAR DATA FOR TABLE 18 OMITTED] growth is expected to slow, populations to age and
dependency ratios to rise significantly.(8) However, with the important exception of Japan, increases in
dependency ratios are expected to occur mainly beyond 2010, so that the coming decades provide a window of opportunity to put in place policies to ease the transition.
Most empirical works consider only young and old
dependency ratios and level and growth of per capita income (Leff, 1969; Ram, 1982; Kelley, 1988).
On a more positive note, it predicts little change in developing countries' "
dependency ratios," defined as the proportion of a population aged less than 15 and more than 65 years old.
