India’s falling birth rate will necessitate some policy changes to effectively manage the fiscal and health-related challenges associated with aging populations, TCI Director Prabhu Pingali and gender and nutrition specialist Shubh Swain argue in an op-ed published in The Financial Express.

Recent survey data shows that India’s fertility rate has fallen below the replacement rate, meaning that the proportion of older people in the Indian population will increase in the coming decades. As a result, Pingali and Swain say the social and economic issues facing the country will change. For example, non-communicable diseases will become a greater concern, and expanding healthcare access for older Indians will be a challenge. Likewise, a growing dependency ratio will make it difficult to improve the already poor financial security reported by older Indians. As older adults delay retirement, the old and young will compete against each other for limited jobs.

“Even though the effects of the demographic transition will not be felt tomorrow, India must get the ball rolling early,” Pingali and Swain write, “as the shifting in the socio-cultural landscape towards those of advanced age will take time.”

To address these challenges, Pingali and Swain recommend that Indian policymakers pursue two goals. In the long term, they must invest in today’s youth to build a healthy and secure population. In the short term, they should beef up support for older Indians—by improving healthcare access, for example—to build a society that more effectively responds to the needs of the elderly. Because women will make up a majority of the older population, they also recommend adopting a more gendered approach that prioritizes the needs of women.

“Even though the effects of the demographic transition will not be felt tomorrow, India must get the ball rolling early,” Pingali and Swain write, “as the shifting in the socio-cultural landscape towards those of advanced age will take time.”

The pair also urge scholars involved in the discourse around nutrition and food systems in India to address the needs of older adults.

Read the full op-ed on FinancialExpress.com: “With Birth Rate in Decline, India Must Change”

Featured image: An older man and woman sit among stacks of pottery. (Photo by Husain Patrawala on Unsplash)