dependency ratio
Definition
A measure of the portion of a population which is composed of dependents (people who are too young or too old to work). The dependency ratio is equal to the number of individuals aged below 15 or above 64 divided by the number of individuals aged 15 to 64, expressed as a percentage. A rising dependency ratio is a concern in many countries that are facing an aging population, since it becomes difficult for pension and social security systems to provide for a significantly older, non-working population.
Use dependency ratio in a sentence
“ I had to figure out the dependency ratio in our country to see how many people were too old, or young to work. ”
“ The 'dependency ratio' is an idea in economics(as well as geography and demography) that gives the ratio of people who do not work to the people who do work. ”
“ A rising dependency ratio in the united States is not a major issue because older individuals are working past retirement age and contributing to diverse investment and retirement portfolio. ”
