SUNDAY 9 OCTOBER, 2016 – UWI TODAY
17
ACTION RESEARCH
For the period 1950 to 2040,
the pace at which the
population in Trinidad and Tobago has aged and will
continue to age, exceeds that of Barbados, Canada, Italy and
the United States based on past population trends and those
that are projected for the period 2010 and 2040.
The pace of ageing is defined as the expected increase
in the median age from one decade to the next. Table 1
lists expected increases in the median age of the population
in eight countries. In Trinidad and Tobago, the median
age is expected to increase by 3.2 years every decade.
Corresponding increases in the case of Barbados, Italy,
Canada and the United States are 3.1 years, 2.8 years, 2.7
years and 1.7 years respectively.Themedian age is ameasure
summarising the average age of a country’s population.
If this statistic does not sound alarming enough about
our ageing population, consider that 30 years ago the average
birth rate was 3 children to 1 woman and in 2010 it was
one child per woman – which implies that the population
of Trinidad and Tobago will likely experience negative
population growth as early as during the 2020s.
These demographics are time-bombs that can
potentially have negative impacts for national productivity,
NIS reserves, the nation’s capacity to sustain health care
services that treat with chronic non-communicable illnesses
and international competitiveness of economic entities
within the domestic economy. Are public and private sector
agendas ready to address these concerns in a nation and
region where very little reverence is placed upon social and
economic planning?
Earlier this year, demographers, statisticians,
development specialists, public sector technocrats and
other allied professionals convened to showcase, discuss
and precipitate action to influence sustainable development
agendas that ought to be cognisant of critical attributes of
national populations.
The Caribbean Research Cluster for Population
and Sustainable Development is one of several clusters
associated with the Fifty-Fifty Research Initiative that was
established in the Sir Arthur Lewis Institute of Social and
Economic Studies (SALISES) in 2012. In January 2016,
the Cluster successfully organised the first in a series of
country conferences that was entitled, Population Issues
and Dynamics in Trinidad and Tobago: Theory, Practice
and Policy for Post 2015 SDG.Three outstanding Caribbean
demographers working in the period 1950 to the end of
the 1980s – George Roberts, Jack Harewood and Norma
Abdulah, were honoured for their respective contributions.
The common themes characterising their scholarly
contributions included the socio-demographic reality of
Anglophone Caribbean societies; data-driven approaches
to understanding development processes in Caribbean
societies; the development of national statistical systems,
and human capital development. The keynote plenaries
were developed drawing on these themes with addresses
being delivered by Dr Ralph Henry, Sunity Maharaj and
Dr Terrence Farrell.
The programme also featured three additional plenaries
showcasing key insights and perspectives that underlie the
work programmes of critical stakeholders. The Ministry
of Planning and Development was a main partner in
organising the conference and convened a panel consisting
of three senior public service professionals who provided
key insights into the management of national population
dynamics. The second set of stakeholders consisted of
representatives from the NGO community, specifically,
the National Family Planning Association, the Diabetes
Association of Trinidad and Tobago and the Living Water
Community. The third set of stakeholders represented the
Previewing: Population Problems
B y G o d f r e y S t B e r n a r d
youth movement with panelists presenting messages from
the perspectives of academia, entrepreneurship, youth
development and the media.
The conference attracted a total of 55 formal papers
covering wide-ranging themes including population
redistribution and spatial development; improving quality
of life; vulnerability of children and elderly populations;
migrant lived experiences and other labour migration
issues; population ageing and social security; nutritional,
health and lifestyle challenges; maternal health, child health
and fetal mortality; demographic transition and ageing
issues; quality threats to human capital formation; fertility
behaviour and fertility decline; data quality and social
planning; andmethodological approaches impacting socio-
demographic data. More than 100 authors including social
scientists, medical scientists, food production specialists,
statisticians, regional planners presented findings and ideas
emanating from their research and contributed towards
strengthening inter-disciplinary and multi-disciplinary
foci as a means of contending with the often neglected
nuances that characterise population dynamics and socio-
demographic issues in contemporary Trinidad and Tobago.
Inkeepingwith its pledge to replicate similar conferences
across the Anglophone Caribbean, the Caribbean Research
Cluster for Population and Sustainable Development has
begun the organisation of the second country conference
in Jamaica. This conference entitled Population Planning
for Development in Jamaica: Theory, Practice and Policy
for Post 2015 SDGs is scheduled to take place during 25-27
January, 2017 at the Jamaica Conference Centre inKingston,
Jamaica. It seeks to explore a wide array of population
issues that are associated with development prospects
specifically in Jamaica. Despite being a SALISES initiative,
the conference is organised in collaboration with STATIN,
Department of Sociology, Social Work and Psychology in
The University of the West Indies (Mona) and other allied
partners such as the Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ)
and United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).
Jamaica embarked upon a major macro-level
planning initiative entitled Vision 2030 Jamaica – National
Development Plan during 2007. Accordingly, “Jamaica, the
place of choice to live, work, raise families and do business”
captures the essence of the national vision statement and
implicitly reflects a desire to positively impact the well-
being of human populations, in individual capacities and
as variable collectives on one hand, and the character
of societal institutions that are not only shaped by such
populations but also influence outcomes associated with
critical attributes akin to such populations. Not surprisingly,
a constant theme that will be characteristic of every country
conference is the intrinsic link between demographic and
other population-related variables and processes of inclusive
and sustainable development.
The upcoming 2017 conference will provide an
opportunity for potential panelists to discuss disciplinary
and inter-disciplinary perspectives that bear upon a wide
array of related issues and inform research inputs and
policy prescription. It is expected to yield outcomes that
reflect progressive orientations towards human populations
in the attainment of sustainable development thrusts. In
promoting this series of Caribbean population conferences,
a key guiding principle is that sustainable development
will not be economically viable, socio-culturally sensitive,
environmentally responsible and people-focused if it were
to be insensitive to human population structures and
dynamics.
Dr Godfrey St. Bernard is a Senior Fellow at SALISES on The UWI, St. Augustine Campus.
He is the conference coordinator for Population Planning for Development in Jamaica: Theory, Practice and Policy for Post 2015 SDGs.
For further information please contact:
From left to right: Henry Charles, Dr Terri-Anne Gilbert-Roberts, Teoca Dove, Dr Godfrey St. Bernard, Amilcar Sanatan, Jabari Fraser.
Country
Magnitude
of Ageing
Barbados.................................3.1
Canada. ...................................2.7
Cuba. .......................................3.8
Italy. ........................................2.8
Japan.......................................3.6
Singapore. ..............................4.2
Trinidad and Tobago..............3.2
United States..........................1.7
Table 1. The Pace of Population Ageing
– Selected Countries 1950-2040
Source: St. Bernard (2016)
