Implications of population age structure on resource utilization and social security in relation to poverty alleviation in ECA member states

Abstract

Until the past recent years, the implications of demographic variables on resource utilization have been focused utmost on Macro-level. In that case, population size and aggregated output (i.e. Gross Domestic Product - GDP) were considered as denominator and numerator, respectively, in computing per capita income output, which used to be the sole indicator of the level of development. Such consideration could have been dictated, possibly, by the availability of data at aggregate level and perhaps, the simplicity in explaining the policy implications of per capita income or output in development planning strategies. Besides the Macro-level consideration of population and resource utilization, the traditional approach to investigating demographic implications was used to be among the demographic variables themselves, such as population size, age/sex compositions and the dynamic components of population change. Later, it was recognized that aggregate consideration conceals the internal variations in the demographic growth and structure and their implications, not only among themselves, but also on the utilization of sectoral resources.