CHALLENGES BEFORE AGEING POPULATION IN INDIA

Population ageing is the ultimate result of demographic transition which means the era is moving towards low fertility and low mortality phase. Although the older population is growing in all parts of the world, most of the increase is taking place in the developing world. The demographic change in any country brings certain other influences like influence on health, social condition and economic activity of people. The demographic transition brings various challenges before a developing country like India. Present paper is aimed to identify the challenges arising out of increasing share of elderly population with respect to total population. The study is based on secondary data obtained from several literature. The researcher reviewed these literature and tried to conceptualise the findings. An ageing population poses several challenges with respect to physical and mental health, economic security, living arrangement, declining social status etc. The challenge is more critical for females because of their low literacy, Low participation in workforce, high dependency ratio, low financial security, customary ownership of property by men etc. This demographic shift is a matter of great concern regarding how we address the challenge and maximize the opportunities.