Generally speaking, a country with low living standards and an inadequate medical and welfare services system tends to face slow population growth largely due to high fertility counteracted by high child mortality rates. As the economy gradually develops, the country is likely to experience a decline in the child mortality rate and resultant rapid growth in the “youth population” (those aged below 15).
Based on that experience, all major industrial countries are currently engaged in economic stimulus policies which contain a large element of countercyclical spending. How large is the countercyclical element of current fiscal packages in industrialised countries is a matter of debate.