India's Youth Bulge

The structural-demographic (SD) theory pays a lot of attention to demographic dynamics (as is implied by the theory’s name). While the youth bulge is not one of the primary drivers for instability (which are immiseration, intraelite conflict, and state weakness), it is probably the most important of secondary factors. A youth bulge is a large proportion of twenty-somethings in a population, which results from a baby boom twenty years back in time. It creates a (temporary) oversupply of young people looking for their first jobs, depressing their employment opportunities, wages, and, more generally, well-being. As a result, it creates a lot of discontent among the youth.

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