1978 to 2026: The Chart That Shows Why Your Children Might Be Alone

 I Was Born in 1978. My Generation Might Be India's Luckiest — And I'm Not Sure the Next One Knows It Yet

Look at the chart below.


In 1978, the year I was born, about 2.44 crore children were born in India.

By 2001, that number had climbed to about 2.93 crore.

Today? It's fallen to about 2.25 crore.

This isn't just a chart of birth counts. It's a chart of who's going to be around when we're old.

My father's generation never had to plan for retirement the way we think about it now. Why? Because a son was the pension plan. Children were the social security. The family was the safety net — and the law, and society, backed that arrangement up.

I count myself lucky too. I have children. When I'm old, I hope they're there — not for my money, but for the things money doesn't buy: someone to call, someone to sit with, someone to be there at the end.

Now look at the generation born around 2001. They're nearly 25 today — one of the largest cohorts India has ever produced. 

The first problem this creates is obvious — jobs. Millions of people from a peak-sized generation competing for a limited pool of good roles. Not everyone gets one. And when labor supply rises, wages don't rise automatically with it — skill becomes the thing that separates who moves up from who doesn't.

The second problem is the one nobody's pricing in yet. Here's the contradiction: every generation coming after them is smaller.

When today's 25-year-olds are 60, 70, 80 — what does their world look like? Fewer siblings. Fewer children of their own. Grandchildren, uncertain. The number of people of younger age will continuously decrease. 

For centuries, society was like a pyramid with many young people who were older in number than the elders. And when today's youth will be old - their number will be much higher than the youth in India for the first time . For the first time in India's history, the pyramid inverts: the old will outnumber the young.

So ask the real question: who takes them to the hospital? Who decides for them when they can't decide for themselves? On an ordinary Saturday evening, who do they call?

You can have ₹5 crore. A house. Access to the best hospitals in the country. Money buys care. It does not buy companionship. Financial independence and emotional isolation can coexist — and increasingly, for this generation, they will.

We've spent decades learning how to live longer. The next decades will be learning how to live longer and alone — and hence building the financial as well as Social network / family structures now that account for both, not just the first.

That second part is the one I don't see enough people planning for.

Do you understand this challenge ? 

Share , comment and give your views . 


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The New Indian Reality: When 40 Becomes the New Layoff Age

Image
  India is quietly drifting into a new reality — one that doesn’t make headlines until it hits your own living room. It doesn’t scream crisis. It arrives silently, and when it does, it stings. For a growing number of urban professionals, the most dangerous decade is no longer the 50s. It is the 40s. At 43, Rajeev Dhar didn’t think he was anywhere close to being “disposable.” A mid-level manager in a multinational tech company in Bengaluru, he had led migrations, held teams together during attrition waves, and trained younger hires who were now rising faster than him. He had done everything the corporate world tells you to do if you want to stay relevant. Then one week, he was told he was no longer “core.” He had become “excess cost.” The 15-minute call did not just end his job. It ended the illusion of stability. It hit him quietly and brutally — he had not only lost employment, he had lost the ground under his family. Not too long ago, the 40s were supposed to be the “settled” dec...
Read more

When will FIIs return ?

Image
India: Fastest Growing  But Through Whose Lens? India is often described as the fastest-growing major economy. That statement is correct in rupee terms and real GDP growth. Foreign investors, however, don’t look at India in rupees. They evaluate economies in US dollar terms, because capital, returns, and repatriation are all dollar-based. When GDP growth is viewed in USD: India’s growth remains strong But the gap versus the US is much narrower than commonly perceived This doesn’t make India unattractive. It simply means that India’s growth leadership appears less dramatic in dollar terms. Foreign capital doesn’t follow headlines. It looks for: Currency stability Predictable policy And equity earnings growth that outperforms global alternatives in USD terms Foreign capital will return not just because India is growing fast, but when returns adequately compensate for currency risk. Growth matters. But growth through the investor’s point of view matters more.
Read more

A more optimistic 2026 lies ahead

Image
 Dear Patron,   Wishing you and your family a very Happy New Year.   As we step into a new year, it’s worth pausing for a moment of reflection and recalibration. Greek philosopher Socrates once said, “An unexamined life is not worth living.” Similarly, an unexamined investment journey is incomplete.   So, let’s take a look at what transpired in 2025 and why we believe 2026 could be different. The year gone by was tough for Indian equities. But, after these turbulent 12 months, we believe that investors have reasons to be optimistic for 2026. Earnings recovery, macro tailwinds and improving sentiments could uplift the mood in the domestic markets. While global challenges are here to stay, we would like to reiterate that India’s structural growth story remains intact.   Anticipating escalation in trade tensions and geopolitical shifts, suggest increase your allocation to domestic-focused growth...
Read more