Problems
A high dependency ratio can cause serious problems for a country. As the largest proportion of a government's expenditure is on health, social security & education which are most used by old and young population. Also the increasing expenditure on pension becomes a problem too.
Nevertheless, the dependency ratio ignores the fact that the 65+ are not necessarily dependent (an increasing proportion of them is working) and that many of those of 'working age' are actually not working. Alternatives have been developed', such as the 'economic dependency ratio', but they still ignore factors such as increases in productivity and in working hours. Worries about increasing (demographic) dependency ratio should thus be taken with caution. (http://www.eurofound.europa.eu/pubdocs/2012/59/en/2/EF1259EN.pdf)
Read more about this topic: Dependency Ratio
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