News India Live, Digital Desk: Fertility Rate: What is the biggest strength of India? The answer is- its young population. When the world was getting old, we had crores of young hands, who were ready to work, dream and take the country forward. On the strength of this ‘youth power’, we dreamed of becoming the fastest economy in the world.
But this story is now taking a new and worrying turn. A truth has come to light, which can change the entire picture of our country in the coming 20-30 years.
A recent study of the lenset states that the fertility rate in India has fallen very fast. It has now come to 2.0, which is also below the ‘replacement level’ of 2.1.
What does it mean in easy language?
‘Replacement level’ is a magical figure that keeps the population stable. That is, on an average, when a woman gives birth to 2.1 children in her life, the population does not decrease nor grows. We have now gone down from this magical figure. This means that in future we will have less children and the number of elderly will be more.
So isn’t it a good thing that our population is coming under control? The upper side may look good, but it has some far -reaching consequences that can create a big crisis for us.
Understand this from the example of a family:
Imagine a family that has 2-earning youth and 8-10 elderly members. What will happen to that house? Less earners and more dependent on them. This is exactly the situation of our country.
What will be its effect?
Who will work? (The shrinking workforce)
When the youth are less, the hands working in our factories, in our offices, and in our fields will also be less. This will reduce the production of the country and will slow down the pace of economic development.
Who will pay tax? (The tax burden)
The largest means of earning of the government is the tax, which fills the earning youth population. When the earners are reduced, the government’s earnings will also be reduced. Then how will roads, hospitals and schools be built?
Who will take care of the elderly? (The Social Crisis)
This is the biggest human concern. When the number of elderly in the country will be in crores and the youth taking care of them will be less, then our health system will have a terrible burden. The pressure of their elders will increase the pressure on families.
Countries like Japan and China are struggling with this crisis today. Their youth population has reduced and now they are worried about their old population.
India’s ‘youth power’ is not always there. This study is a warning bell. It is telling that we have to plan for the upcoming ‘elderly India’ today, otherwise our biggest strength, will become our biggest weakness.
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