Ageing Population

Demographic ageing is a structural shift characterized by an increasing proportion of elderly individuals within a population due to declining fertility rates and improvements in life expectancy.

Under Social Issues

• It expands the dependency ratio, increasing fiscal demands on public funds for universal non-contributory pensions, healthcare subsidies, and formal care infrastructure.
• It requires public health systems to reorient from acute infectious disease control toward chronic disease management, palliative care, and specialized geriatric services.
• It impacts household savings rates and labor market availability, necessitating legal and administrative frameworks to promote active ageing and support informal caregiving networks.

UPSC frames questions on this topic across GS Paper I (Society) and GS Paper II (Social Justice) by focusing on the multi-dimensional vulnerabilities of elderly populations, particularly older women and informal sector workers. Questions evaluate a candidate's ability to link demographic transitions with governance challenges, such as pension saturation, long-term care financing, and legislative mechanisms like senior citizen welfare acts. Successful responses must balance strategies for harvesting the remaining demographic dividend with structural reforms needed to build a resilient silver economy.

• Role of women and women’s organizations, population issues, poverty GS1
• Welfare schemes for vulnerable sections GS2