Modern Language Association (of America) Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition Â© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 Â© HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012 Cite This Source
(b) Limitations of the Indicators: The dependency ratio is an approximation to the ratio of net consumers to net producers. As a proxy for that ratio, the dependency ratio suggests that children under age 15 as well as persons aged 65 or over are economically dependent. In many populations, however, people do not stop being economically active at age 65, nor is it true that all persons aged 15-64 are economically active.
In 2010, it was 22 percent of men that age and older and 14 percent of women and, by 2020, it is projected to be 27 percent of men and 19 percent of women. Even that ratio is crude, but it is less crude and more accurate than the traditional old-age dependency ratio.