Egypt’s Demographic Dividend, and Impact on Women’s Empowerment Policies

Aliaa Amer, Cairo demographic Centre

The demographic opportunity occurs as a result of the continuous substantial decline in fertility levels leading to changes in the age structure where a noticeable decline in the share of young people (0-14 years of age) within the total population would take place, leading to significant savings in resource allocations that can be used to enhance the skills and capacity of the relatively increasing number of people in the working age group (15-64 years). Such a situation would increase overall productivity and Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita. These investments in human capital are a necessary pre-condition to benefit from the demographic opportunity and maximise the chances of a demographic dividend. These changes in the age structure are the result of a long term decline in the levels of both fertility and mortality leading to changes in the age dependency levels and indicating whether the country are approaching the opportunity for a demographic dividend. The relationship between women's empowerment and the demographic dividend is crystallised in explaining the reasons that lead to an increase in fertility rates due to women's early marriage and their interruption of education, which leads to high unemployment rates among women and high dependency rates, whether young or old.

Keywords: Population and Development, Economic Demography, Gender Dynamics, Human Capital, Education, and Work

See extended abstract.