General Studies I · Subtopic
Population issues
Official syllabus
Role of women and women’s organization, population and associated issues, poverty and developmental issues, urbanization, their problems and their remedies.
UPSC CSE 2026 notification
What this covers
Population issues concern the size, composition, distribution and movement of people, not population growth alone. Study fertility, mortality and migration as distinct demographic processes; then examine age structure, sex composition, dependency, household change, spatial concentration and regional variation. Demographic outcomes reflect education, health, gender relations, livelihoods and public policy. Their consequences depend on institutional capacity: a large working-age population can support development only when health, skills and employment align, while ageing, migration and uneven urban growth create different care and service requirements.
Key ideas
- Fertility mortality and migration
- Demographic transition
- Age and sex structure
- Dependency and demographic dividend
- Ageing and care
- Regional demographic variation
- Population distribution and mobility
- Health education employment and policy