Population Development Practice Test

The dependency ratio measures how many people rely on each working-age person for support. It is calculated as the number of dependents (those under 15 and over 64) per 100 people in the working-age group (15–64). This ratio matters for development planning because a high dependency burden means more demand for education, health care, and pensions, and potentially tighter resources for investment in jobs and growth. If there are many dependents relative to workers, governments may need to spend more on social services and create policies to support the labor force and savings; if the working-age population is large, there’s a potential demographic dividend if investments in education and employment pay off. The other options describe different demographic measures: births versus deaths is a fertility/death indicator, the proportion elderly covers only one group of dependents, and net migration rate tracks movement between countries rather than the internal support burden.