SHAPING THE FUTURE HOW CHANGING DEMOGRAPHICS CAN POWER HUMAN DEVELOPMENT

1.15 Population age-composition is intrinsically linked with
human development 39
1.16 Japan’s negative first dividend is balanced by a positive
second dividend 43
2.1 Almost 60 percent of working-age people live in Asia-Pacific 48
2.2 Within Asia-Pacific, the size and share of the workforce
varies over time and by subregion 49
2.3 Peaks within sub-regions show some convergence,
but with marked exceptions 51
2.4 GDP growth moves with changes in working-age populations 53
2.5 China is ahead of India in generating employment for
a growing workforce 54
2.6 Women in some parts of Asia-Pacific are far less likely
than men to be in the workforce 54
2.7 There is significant potential to increase women’s labour
force in South Asia and the Pacific island countries 55
2.8 Growth in labour productivity has been rapid 57
2.9 Many jobs remain in agriculture, while the share in
manufacturing lags 57
2.10 Low-skilled jobs lead to low wages and poverty traps 57
2.11 More workers mean more savings 58
2.12 China’s economy, savings and productivity grew in tandem
with its workforce 59
2.13 Japan is past its working-age peak, but has successfully
utilized its demographic dividend 61
2.14 Thailand’s population shift was rapid from 1970-2010 62
2.15 Thailand still has time to capitalize on its demographic
dividend 63
2.16 A policy framework to guide the demographic dividend 64
2.17 Higher growth alone has not produced more jobs 64
3.1 The world has a record number of young people,
but the rate of growth has slowed 83
3.2 The share of young people in total population is
on the decline 83
3.3 Access to tertiary education is expanding faster in
wealthier countries 92
3.4 Women still tend to study in traditional fields 92
3.5 Stunting and wasting rates are generally higher
in South Asia countries than East-Asia ones 97
3.6 The share of overweight children is higher in East Asia
and the Pacific compared to South Asia 99
3.7 Youth unemployment rates in South and East Asia are
lower than that of other regions 101
3.8 The share of youth who are not in employment or education
is high in many countries 102
3.9 Youth are consistently less likely than adults to vote
in elections 105
3.10 Youth in the region are concerned about many issues,
but most do not think participation in politics has an impact 106
4.1 Asia-Pacific is one of the fastest ageing regions 121
4.2 A number of Asia-Pacific countries will age in a few
quick decades—or less 121
4.3 Ageing will eventually accelerate in all subregions
of Asia-Pacific 122
4.4 Even countries with small shares of older people will see
an increase in the coming years 122
4.5 Women outlive men, especially at older ages 123
4.6 Some countries still have a high number of working-age
people to support elderly dependents 124
4.7 Older countries have fewer working-age people per
elderly dependent 124
4.8 Shifting practices mean many older people
live independently 126
4.9 Per capita health expenditure has risen rapidly in the region 129
4.10 Globally, pension coverage varies widely 133
4.11 In Asia-Pacific, pension coverage tends to be higher
in wealthier countries, but many developing states have
made impressive progress 134
4.12 Pension replacement rates provide a measure of adequacy 135
4.13 Non-health public expenditure on pension is very low
in Asia-Pacific compared to other regions 135
4.14 Social protection spending on pension lags behind
in many countries 136
4.15 Labour force participation rates are low among older
people in Asia-Pacific countries 139
5.1 The pace of urbanization in Asia-Pacific has accelerated
rapidly 154
5.2 Urbanization rates vary considerably within Asia-Pacific 155
5.3 Even countries with fewer people in cities are now
urbanizing rapidly 156
5.4 A majority of the world’s megacities are in Asia-Pacific 157
5.5 The numbers of small and medium cities are on the rise 157
5.6 Most people will live in cities with less than
5 million residents 158
5.7 More developed countries have higher shares of older
rural residents 158
5B.1 Population distribution in urban areas 159
5B.2 Population distribution in rural areas 159
5.8 The urban-rural gap in services, such as electricity,
particularly in less developed countries, can be wide 160
5.9 Wealth tends to rise with urbanization 162
5.10 Urbanized countries rank higher on the
Human Development Index 162
5.11 Poverty rates are lower in cities 163
5.12 Inequalities in urban areas are often worse than
national averages 164
5.13 High shares of urban residents still live in slums 165
5.14 The number of people living in slums is increasing 165
5.15 As people move to cities, greenhouse gas emissions rise 166
5.16 Per capita emissions in Asia-Pacific developing
country cities are higher than national average 166
5.17 Cities tend to generate more solid waste, an acute
problem as they grow national averages 167
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