Working towards both would begin to correct the generational welfare imbalance that is already substantial in a number of countries and seems to be appearing in others (Rossel, 2013a). In all of the countries of the region, at the end of the demographic dividend the dependency ratio between adolescents and youths in secondary school and the working-age population (20 to 64) will be approximately 35% lower than in 2005 (ECLAC/UNFPA, 2012). It should be emphasized that this is an opportunity, not a sure thing, and that whether this actually happens depends on how countries take advantage of this potential for expanding tax revenue or earmarking investments for young people. Failure to take advantage of such an opportunity would, in the medium term, change it from a dividend into a liability (the so-called demographic "burden" as the population ages in a context in which young people enter the labour market in low-productivity conditions).