Demographic changes, ageing and consumption poverty: an exploration of South Asian nations with special reference to India

Moneer Alam, Delhi University Enclave

With declining fertility and increasing life span, ageing in South Asia is imminent. Based on UN’s World population prospects, this phenomenon was examined for five major South Asian countries - India, Nepal, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. The over all analysis is bifocal: it begins by analyzing the country specific changes in important demographic parameters bringing structural shifts in age composition and ageing in countries under reference. Subsequently, it moves to examine a few important policy implications of ageing and emerging poverty-health issues of aged; the later based on unit level Indian data. The analysis finds alarmingly low levels of consumption by an average old — implying negligible effect of recent economic upsurge on average Indians. Subsequent multinomial logit exercises indicate significant relationship between socio-economic attributes and health outcome of individuals in later life. The study strongly suggests the needs for cross-national studies on issues under consideration based on comparable data.