If a country has a large elderly population and the child population also begins to grow, which double pressure may appear on public budgets?

Correct answer: Rising spending on both education and elderly health-pensions

The governing concept is the fiscal effect of a dual dependency burden. A large elderly population commonly requires public support for pensions, medical care, and sometimes long-term care. At the same time, a growing child population increases the need for schools, teachers, nutrition programmes, immunisation, and child-health services. Public authorities may therefore have to fund age-related services at both ends of the population pyramid, while the working-age tax base may not expand at the same speed. Option C correctly identifies rising expenditure on education and elderly health and pensions. Options A and B consider only one side, and option D reverses the likely budgetary pressure.