How does age distribution help in the study of the population?
Age distribution (Age composition). The relative abundance of the organisms of various age groups in the population is called the age distribution of the population. With regard to age distribution, there are three kinds of populations: 1. Rapidly growing population. It has a high birth rate and low death rate, so there is more number of young individuals in the population. According to a recent survey, more than 42% of the Indian population consists of children below the age of 14 years, so the Indian population is called the young population. 2. Stationary population: It has equal birth and death rates, so the population shows zero population growth. 3. Declining population. It has a higher death rate than the birth rate, so the population of young members is lower than that of old members. (a) For the human population, the age pyramids generally show the age distribution of males and females in a combined diagram. (b) The shape of the age pyramid reflects the growth status of the population. Thus age pyramid for the human population at a given time helps the policymakers in planning for the future.
