Dependency Ratio

DEPENDENCY RATIO

The ratio of persons who are economically dependent on those who provide for them, either by earning incomes or paying taxes, is known as the dependency ratio. In demographic terms, the dependency ratio is defined as the proportion of those aged under fifteen and over sixty-five to all those between these ages, though this definition does not accurately represent economic dependency at the national level, since persons aged fifteen through sixty-four who are economically dependent, such as disabled persons, invalids, the mentally ill, or the unemployed, are counted inappropriately as independent. In public health and public-policy planning, therefore, indicators such as the number of people receiving disability benefits or the use of disability-adjusted life years would be more accurate for tracking dependency.

JOHN M. LAST

(SEE ALSO: Demography; Economics of Health)