Abstract:
The central argument of this paper
is that Youth Bulge is a transitional phenomenon that appears during the
Demographic Transition of any developing country like Nepal. The Youth Bulge
should be seen as the interaction of increasing/decreasing ‘fertility’ and
‘mortality’ rates. Considering it as demographic ‘bonus’ or ‘challenge’ require
a broad understanding of to what extent the country is expanding its social and
economic opportunities.
In doing so, the paper, at first,
starts with the concept of youth and youth bulge and positions it to the
demographic scenario of Nepal. Secondly, the paper draws understanding of
‘bonus’ side and ‘challenge’ side of Youth Bulge in Nepal through data of
National Living Standard Survey, Census Report 2011 and National Population
Report 2011 developed by National Planning Commission Secretariat, Central
Bureau of Statistics (CBS) and Ministries. Third, it gives synthesis of both
the ‘bonus’ side and ‘challenge’ side and finds out the underlying theoretical
perspective playing behind the concept of ‘Youth Bulge’.
Finally, the paper concludes that
Youth Bulge in Nepal can be either bonus or challenge; however, it depends upon
the degree of expansion of social and economic opportunities and the
interaction of ‘fertility’ and ‘mortality’ rates.
Key words: Youth, Youth Bulge,
Conflict, Bonus, Challenge, Demographic Transition Model (DMT), Remittances, Fertility
Rate, Mortality Rate, Social Opportunities
