GORONTALO - The Gorontalo Provincial Government needs to start preparing for the phenomenon of population aging. This warning is based on the dynamics of trends seen from local regional population data.
Deputy for Community Empowerment, Population, and Employment of the Ministry of PPN/Bappenas RI, Maliki said data is both a challenge and a key in supporting the success of achieving national and regional development targets because it is able to read social changes in society.
"From one data alone, so many stories and policy directions can be read and compiled," said Maliki.
Maliki explained that the current population structure of Gorontalo actually still resembles the population pyramid in general.
However, an anomaly in the form of a more slender-looking part was found in the group of women aged 10 to 14 years. This condition indicates an unusual phenomenon that needs to be further observed by the local government.
Based on the results of data tracking, continued Maliki, there is a change in the age pattern of marriage in Gorontalo people.
The average age of marriage, which was previously in the range of 20 years, has now shifted to around 25 years or more. This shift has an impact on birth delays, especially in the period 2010 to 2015.
In addition, changes in people's lifestyles are also seen from the shorter period of breastfeeding mothers. This condition also affects the dynamics of infant mortality, which is relatively higher in certain periods.
Maliki emphasized that these various dynamics show that data is not just a statistical figure, but is able to describe changes in behavior and social conditions of the community.
Based on the trend of population data, Gorontalo is projected to face the phenomenon of population aging, where the proportion of productive age slowly shifts towards the elderly group.
This condition is certain to affect the focus of regional development, especially in preparing the community to remain healthy and productive when entering old age.
At the end of his speech, Maliki reminded that Indonesia is currently trying to pursue the development target towards the Golden Indonesia.
Therefore, strengthening data-based policies is very crucial to help local governments accurately identify problems.
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