Age- sex structure is one of
the most important characteristics of population composition. Almost all
population characteristics vary significantly with age. Age statistics form an
important component of population analysis, as most of the analysis is based on
age-sex structure of the population. The usefulness of age data is more
noticeable when it is cross classified by variables like marital status,
literacy educational attainment, economic activity which vary with age in
different patterns.
Apart from purely demographic
concerns, the age- sex data structure is required for age specific analysis of
data for planning, scientific, technical and commercial purposes. The
dependency ratio, which is the ratio of economically active to economically
inactive persons, is dependent on age composition.
India has one of the largest proportions of population in the
younger age groups in the world. 35.3% of the population of the country has
been in the age group 0-14 years at the Census 2001. 41% of the population
account for less than 18 years of age.
Census 2001 data on marital status of persons show that out
of over a billion population of the country, 513 million (49.8%) have reported
ad ‘Never married’, mainly due to high proportion of young people. The
‘Married’ constitute about 45.6% of the total population.
TABLE 6:
POPULATION IN DIFFERENT AGE GROUPS AND THEIR PROPORTIONS TO TATAL POPULATION
Age
group
|
|
Percentage
|
| All Ages
|
1,028,610,328
|
100.0
|
| 0 - 4
|
110,447,164
|
10.7
|
| 5 - 9
|
128,316,790
|
12.5
|
| 10 - 14
|
124,846,858
|
12.1
|
| 15- 19
|
100,215,890
|
9.7
|
| 20 - 24
|
89,764,132
|
8.7
|
| 25 - 44
|
284,008,819
|
27.6
|
| 45 - 64
|
139,166,661
|
13.5
|
| 65 - 79
|
41,066,824
|
4.0
|
| 80+ |
8,038,718
|
0.8
|
| Less Than 18
|
422,808,543
|
41.1
|
| Less than 21
|
492,193,906
|
47.9
|
| Age no stated
|
2,738,472
|
0.3
|
| Source : C2 and C14
Table, India, Census of India 2001.
|
The number ‘Widowed’ persons,
mostly females, are more than 44 million in the country. In the age group 15-49
years, the prime child bearing age group, 81.4% of the women are married. This
percentage is high due to lower female age at marriage in many parts of the
country.
TABLE 7: POPULATION BY MARITAL STATUS AND SEX: INDIA –
2001
Marital
status
|
Number of
Persons ( in '000)
|
Percentage to
Total
|
Persons
|
Males
|
Females
|
Males
|
Females
|
| Total |
1,028,610
|
532,157
|
496,454
|
100
|
100
|
| Never Married |
512,668
|
289,619
|
223,048
|
49.8
|
54.4
|
| Married |
468,593
|
231,820
|
236,773
|
45.6
|
43.6
|
| Widowed |
44,019
|
9,729
|
34,290
|
4.3
|
1.8
|
| Divorced / Separated |
3,331
|
988
|
2,343
|
0.3
|
0.2
|
| Source :
C2 and C14 Table, India, Census of India 2001 |
The following graph present
the percentage of males and females to total males and females by their marital
status in India as per Census 2001. As per Census 2001, the mean age at
marriage for females, who married in the last five years, has been 23.5 years
in the country. Among females the mean age at marriage varied from 17.8 years
(Rajsthan) to 24.0 years (Goa), while among males it varied from 20.5 years
(Rajsthan) to 28.2 years (Goa).
|