EXPLORING CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES OF DEMOGRAPHIC DIVIDEND IN PUNJAB PAKISTAN

Abstract

Study has been designed to explore the benefits of the reaping of demographic dividend. A demographic transition where working age population increased than dependents is called demographic dividend/bonus. Demographic dividend is an opportunity to accelerate the economic growth but at the same time it is threat and challenge if a nation fails to plan and manage it. The current study was conducted to know the factors of converting working age population into burden and to find out the factors of socio-economic development in Punjab, Pakistan. The respondents were 450 university students from three metropolitan cities of Punjab Pakistan which were recruited and interviewed randomly. Quantitative data was analyzed by using SPSS and results was presented in the form univariate and bivariate statistical analysis. The majority of the respondents were belonged to educated middle class and have opinion that violation of meritocracy, corruption, poor governance, Lack of human capital, lack of economic resources, political instability, unchecked Population growth, Human rights violation, youth is not integrated with labor market and educational institutions are not providing skilled labor are the factors of converting youth into burden.