By,Muslim Mirror News,
New Delhi,13 Jan: As per the census 2011,Muslims in India have the highest share of children and teenagers in the age group of 0-20 yrs among all religions at 47% while Hindus are 40% and Jains only 29% in the same age group.
All the population put together, around 41% of the country’s population is below 20 years old and nine percent above 60 years, leaving 50% in the intervening 20-59 age group.
Importantly, the share of the young population has declined since the previous census in 2001 when it was 45% for the entire country, 44% for Hindus, 52% for Muslims and 35% for Jains.
This decline is least for Hindus and highest for Buddhists and Christians, at seven percentage points, followed by Sikhs and Jains at six percentage points.
There is considerable variation in the share of the elderly population across the religious communities which can be directly linked to economic status and access to healthcare. As for the Muslim community, just 6.4% of the population is over 60 years, almost 50% lower than the national average while in 2001, this share was 5.8%, indicating only a marginal growth.