Age structure and the burden carried by the productive population of the Czech Republic

The study evaluates the age structure of the Czech population with the emphasis on the burden born by the productive population due to the pre-productive and post-productive population. The extent of the burden born by the productive population is measured by the age structure coefficients. The situation is best described by the youth and old age dependency coefficients, the overall dependency coefficient, and the ageing index. The dynamic aspects can be best analyzed on the basis of the inflow and outflow coefficients. During the last century, the demographic development was seriously disrupted by a series of events that caused the birth rate fluctuation. The repercussions of these fluctuations are perceptible even today. This study focuses on the period ranging from 1993, when the Czech Republic became an independent state, to the beginning of 2004. The prevailing demographic feature of this time is the decreasing population and the negative development of the age structure. This is marked by a decreasing pre-productive population of children aged under 14, and an increasing post-productive population of old people above 64 years of age. The process of ageing of the Czech population is becoming evident. According to the published forecasts, these negative tendencies are not likely to dwindle in the future. The proportion of young people who were born towards the end of the twentieth century and who will in a few years become a part of the productive population will be considerably smaller than the number of the baby boom representatives who will have retired.