WHGI Platform
Demographic Dividend
Helping Countries Achieve Accelerated Population-driven Economic Growth
What is a Demographic Dividend?
A demographic dividend (DD) is the accelerated economic growth that can result from improved reproductive health, a rapid decline in fertility, and the subsequent shift in population age structure.
With fewer births each year, a country’s working-age population grows larger relative to the young dependent population. With more people in the labor force and fewer children to support, a country has a window of opportunity for economic growth if it makes certain strategic social and economic investments and policies in health, education, youth, and gender equity.
The demographic dividend offers a framework to define a research agenda, advocate for policies, and mobilize resources that can help countries realize their potential for accelerated economic growth.
What is the Demographic Dividend Platform?
The William H. Gates Sr. Institute (WHGI) conducts and disseminates research on the demographic dividend through its Demographic Dividend platform.
The Demographic Dividend platform gathers data points from demographic, health, education, and economic domains: all crucial components of achieving a dividend. The platform uses trend data to show how certain dynamics in a given country are changing.
These country-level highlights offer point in time data on key indicators that are related to a nation’s ability to capture a demographic dividend.
By helping countries understand and harness this population shift, WHGI supports policies and programs that can improve wellbeing, strengthen economies, and create lasting social change.
Who Does the Demographic Dividend Platform Work With?
WHGI partners with a consortium of researchers from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, the University of California Berkeley, and the National Transfers Account of the University of Hawaii to address key research and policy questions related to the demographic dividend.
WHGI has also organized international gatherings on the demographic dividend and worked with the Population Reference Bureau (PRB), the African Union (AU), and the UN Economic Commission for Africa to produce materials to better assist policy makers in understanding issues around the demographic dividend.
What is the Demographic Dividend Effort Index?
The Demographic Dividend Effort Index (DDEI) is a robust tool that takes researchers, policymakers, advocates, service providers, and program implementers through a process of assessing local efforts in high-impact policies and programs.
Featured Institute Experts
Institute Director | Professor
Dr. Philip Anglewicz is Director of the William H. Gates Sr. Institute for Population and Reproductive Health and Principal Investigator of the Performance Monitoring for Action Project.
Institute Director | Professor
Dr. Philip Anglewicz is Director of the William H. Gates Sr. Institute for Population and Reproductive Health and Principal Investigator of the Performance Monitoring for Action Project.
Assistant Scientist
Carolina Cardona is a health economist focused on understanding demographic processes and their effect on economic development. She is particularly interested in the influence of women’s sexual and reproductive health decisions on women’s roles in society and how they shape demographic transitions.
Assistant Scientist
Carolina Cardona is a health economist focused on understanding demographic processes and their effect on economic development. She is particularly interested in the influence of women’s sexual and reproductive health decisions on women’s roles in society and how they shape demographic transitions.
Senior Technical Advisor
Ian Salas joined the faculty of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in July 2015 as an Assistant Scientist at the Department of Population, Family and Reproductive Health and a Research Economist at the Bill & Melinda Gates Institute for Population and Reproductive Health. Prior to this, he was a David E. Bell Research Fellow at the Center for Population and Development Studies at Harvard University.
Senior Technical Advisor
Ian Salas joined the faculty of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in July 2015 as an Assistant Scientist at the Department of Population, Family and Reproductive Health and a Research Economist at the Bill & Melinda Gates Institute for Population and Reproductive Health. Prior to this, he was a David E. Bell Research Fellow at the Center for Population and Development Studies at Harvard University.
Demographic Futures Lead
Dr. Apoorva Jadhav is a demographer and an expert in family planning and reproductive health with two decades of experience in evidence-based policy formulation.
Demographic Futures Lead
Dr. Apoorva Jadhav is a demographer and an expert in family planning and reproductive health with two decades of experience in evidence-based policy formulation.
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Connected WHGI Global Program
WHGI's Demographic Futures, Population, and Environment Global Program recognizes the critical connections between population change, health, the environment, and long-term development.
Through this Global Program, WHGI's Demographic Dividend Initiative champions the demographic dividend framework as a pathway to accelerate economic growth, strengthen family planning outcomes, and inform policies that invest in people—particularly women and young people—as drivers of national development.