Population as an Asset for the Economy Rather Than a Liability

‘Individuals as Resource’ is a method of alluding to a nation’s functioning individuals as far as their current useful abilities and capacities. Looking at the population from this perspective emphasizes its ability to contribute to the Gross National Product. Like different assets populace likewise is an asset — a ‘human asset’. This is the positive side of an enormous populace that is regularly ignored when we only look at the negative side, considering just the issues of furnishing the populace with food, schooling, and admittance to wellbeing offices. By putting resources into human assets, individuals will improve training which will prompt more individuals to accomplish effective work which will expand GDP as many individuals will cooperate.  At this point when the current ‘human asset’ is further created by turning out to be more taught and sound, we call it ‘human capital development’ that adds to the useful force of the nation very much like ‘actual capital arrangement’. Interest in human resources (through instruction, preparing, health care) yields a return very much like speculation in actual capital. This can be seen straightforwardly as higher salaries procured on account of higher use of the more taught or the better-prepared people, just as the higher efficiency of better individuals.  

Not exclusively do the more taught and the better individuals acquire through higher livelihoods, society likewise gains in other roundabout ways on the grounds that the upsides of a more instructed or a better populace spreads to those additionally who themselves were not straightforwardly instructed or given medical services. Indeed, human resource is in one way better than different assets like land and actual capital: human assets can utilize land and capital. 

Land and capital can’t become valuable all alone! For a long time in India, an enormous populace has been viewed as an obligation as opposed to a resource. Be that as it may, an enormous populace need not be a responsibility. It tends to be transformed into a useful resource by interest in the human resources (for instance, by spending assets on schooling and wellbeing for all, preparation of mechanical and horticultural laborers in the utilization of current innovation, valuable logical explores, etc.). All this output efficiency adds to the development of the economy. This thusly pays a person through compensation or in some other type of his decision. Interest in the human asset (through instruction and clinical consideration) can give high paces of return later on. This speculation on individuals is equivalent to interest in land and capital. One puts resources into offers and bonds anticipating better yield later on. 

A youngster, as well, with ventures made on her schooling and wellbeing, can yield an exceptional yield in the future as higher income and more noteworthy commitment to society. Instructed guardians are found to contribute all the more intensely to the training of their kids. This is on the grounds that they have understood the significance of training for themselves. They are additionally aware of appropriate nourishment and cleanliness. They likewise take care of their kids’ needs for instruction at school and great wellbeing. A prudent cycle is accordingly made for this situation. Conversely, an endless loop might be made by hindered guardians who, themselves ignorant and lack in cleanliness, keep their youngsters also in a burdened state.

Japan is one of the developed nations and known for its postwar success in the field of agriculture, fishing, manufacturing, tourism,

The common belief is that if a country’s population grows too quickly, it will remain impoverished. Now, look at the median age, which is an important single indicator of a population’s age distribution. It represents the population’s age “middle point,” with the same amount of people older than and younger than the median age. In 2015, the global average median age was 29.6 years, with half of the population older than 29.6 years and the other half younger. With a median age of 46.3 years, Japan had the highest median age. Nigeria is the youngest at 14.9 years old. Across North America, Europe, and East Asia, we see that higher-income countries have a higher median age. India’s population median age was 28.43 years in 2020. India’s median population age climbed from 21.25 years in 1950 to 28.43 years in 2020, expanding at a 2.15 percent yearly pace. India can take advantage of its greater median age to create a skilled and strong workforce for the future. The economic and social functioning of societies depends on the distribution of working-age versus young and old (dependent) populations.

Let’s take a look at another example, which will show that population is a resource for a country: China’s one-child policy has perhaps received as much attention as the country’s population, which is the world’s largest at around 1.39 billion people. The purpose of China’s one-child policy, which was implemented in 1979, was to ensure that population growth would not outrun economic progress, as well as to alleviate environmental and natural resource issues and imbalances brought on by a quickly growing population. But with population control, the workforce of China had shrunk. For the past three years, the number of workers entering China’s entire labor force has been falling, and this trend is projected to continue. According to the National Bureau of Statistics, China’s labor force shrank by 0.5 percent in 2018, marking the seventh consecutive year of decrease (NBS). The relaxation and abolition of China’s one-child policy were prompted by the country’s growing senior population and shrinking labor force.  

In practically every country on the planet, the share of elderly people is rising. One in every five adults in underdeveloped countries will be over 60 years old by 2050. Increased life expectancy as a result of advancements in health care has resulted in a rapidly aging population, particularly in Asia. Asia is expected to have some of the most dramatic increases—by 2050, one in every four Asians will be over 60 years old. Developing countries are quickly running out of time to put in place sufficient policies to deal with their aging populations.

Except for China, no other country in the world has such a large manpower base as India, which is a boon to the country. Such a large and skilled workforce, together with resources, must be viewed as a valuable asset. Because of the large population, there is a larger pool of human resources and, as a result, a larger consumer market. If money is spent on human resources, people will obtain higher education, which will lead to more people doing skilled work, which will improve GDP because more people will be working together.

The prevalent idea that India will remain impoverished due to its population’s rapid growth is based on simple arithmetic. To put it another way, the economy would have to come to a halt. This logic ignores the possibility that India’s population is rising too quickly as a result of its poverty. Children are a source of income supplementation for the poor when their parents are young, as well as financial support in old age. High infant mortality rates only serve to incentivize parents to have more children.

Because of demographic reasons, population growth rates are always high in the early phases of development. While death rates are declining due to improvements in public health systems that remove epidemic diseases, birth rates are remaining stagnant due to poverty and illiteracy. However, as economic levels rise, poverty decreases, and literacy (especially among women) increases, birth rates decrease. The population growth rate bulge is gradually dissipating. Birth rates fall more when development leads to higher income levels until they merely replace the existing population. Demographic transitions are a necessary part of the development process. In the long run, birth rates in wealthy countries may fall, even more, resulting in population reduction.

In India, the potential is considerably larger. Our workforce will grow as a result of the large proportion of young people in the population, especially if a higher proportion of women join the workforce. For a while, it will also entail a rise in savings rates, as young people save and the elderly do not. Many Asian countries will no longer have access to this source of economic development as their workforce ages, forcing them to rely on productivity increases to maintain growth. As India’s workforce is increasing, there is a lot of possibility in the future that India can make good economic growth by utilizing its skilled labor. Rather than being depressing, this future scenario inspires hope. Because of the relatively large proportion of young individuals in our society, India’s population will continue to rise (although at a slower pace). Of course, in roughly a decade, our population will begin to age dramatically. The silver lining is that the number of working-age individuals (20-59 years) will continue to rise for more than two decades, peaking at 59 percent in 2041. However, we can only take advantage of this demographic dividend if we invest in education that develops our people’s capacities. Our national policy also aims to improve the accessibility of health care, family well-being, and nutrition services, with special attention to vulnerable groups of the population. In the past 20 years, India has established a huge health infrastructure and has cultivated the necessary labor force in the primary, secondary, and tertiary government departments and the private sector.

Conclusion

A person is a positive resource and a valuable public asset that should be appreciated, sustained and created with delicacy and care, combined with dynamism. Each person’s development presents an alternate scope of issues and prerequisites. The synergist activity of training in this unpredictable and dynamic development measure should be arranged carefully and executed with extraordinary affectability. We shouldn’t be concerned that a population expansion will result in an illiterate and unhealthy society because the causality is reversed. Rather, we should concentrate on education and healthcare. In the next 25 years, our economy could be completely changed, this would turn our enormous population into a source of rapid economic growth, potentially causing a significant shift in people’s well-being.