Explain the age and sex structure of population.

The two most important components in the structure of population are age and sex. Social and economic characteristics of the population depend on its components namely age, sex, race, nationality, religion, language, marital status, education, employment, occupation, etc. Among these variable age and sex are independent variables as all the other factors depend on these two factors. Sex and age are the two ascribed characteristics of the population. Ascribed characteristics are the ones which are culturally and/or biologically assigned to the individuals. Achived status is the status acquired by the individuals. According to B.K. Sahu, the following are the reasons for the study of age and sex in the population structure:

            i.     Population data is presented on the basis of age and sex. All other data is tabulated on the basis of age and structure.

            ii.     Sex and age are two visible human characteristics which cannot be disputed easily.

           iii.     Each one in the society has a certain ascribed status on the basis of age and sex.

           iv.     Experts are of the opinion that sex ratio is a development indicator.

           v.     Impact of sex on the factors of the population is recognized by the demographers.

           vi.     The knowledge of sex ratio is essential for understanding the employment and consumption patterns and social needs of a community.

          vii.     For social scientists, age structure is important to understand a community.

          viii.     Planning of a country is not possible without knowing the age structure and sex ratio.

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