Many developing countries are in relatively early stages of fertility decline, creating shifting flows of people into the key age groups. This instability greatly complicates the task of managing development, from building human capabilities and creating jobs to growing industry, infrastructure and institutions.
Ian Pool is Professor of Demography at the University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand. He has published more than 150 books, monographs, and papers. He recently co-edited (with Professor Shripad Tuljapurkar of Stanford and Vipan Prachuabmoh) "Population, Resources and Development: Riding the Age Waves," a volume that provides a joint examination of dimensions of age structural change that have often been considered in isolation from each other.