Job creation is particularly important for those countries that are further along in the demographic transition. This requires governments in less developed countries to make strategic investments in those areas that have a proven impact on individual choices to have fewer children and fertility preferences: in the health and education sectors, in gender equality and in job creation.
To achieve the change in the age structure necessary for a demographic dividend, socio-economic development must be accompanied by declining fertility. Sub-Saharan Africa alone is expected to double its population to two billion people by 2050, accounting for half of global population growth. Today, population growth is highest in the poorest countries, which are still at the beginning of the demographic transition.