Developing countries face a significant challenge in sustaining their demographic dividend. However, there are few existing studies that approach this issue from a macroeconomic perspective or through empirical research. This paper aims to systematically analyze the impact of the demographic dividend and education dividend on economic growth. By utilizing China’s empirical evidence and employing the System GMM method, we explore how to improve both dividends. Our main findings can be summarized into three aspects. First, the demographic dividend does not depend on population size alone but also on the size of the labor force. Second, education can improve the demographic dividend and thereby prove the existence of an education dividend. Finally, the effects of the demographic and education dividends vary across regions and stages of development within developing countries. This research enriches the existing literature on education and population age in developing countries.

The digital economy has reshaped the structure and operation of the labor market through profound technological changes, exerting systematic impacts on the quality of flexible employment. Based on five consecutive periods of data from the China Family Panel Survey (CFPS) between 2014 and 2022, a multidimensional, flexible employment quality indicator system is constructed to empirically examine the effects, heterogeneity, and mechanisms of the digital economy on flexible employment quality. This study shows that the digital economy has significantly improved the overall quality of flexible employment. Specifically, male, low-skilled, young, and flexible workers with a low dependency ratio on the northwest side of the Hu-Huan-Yong Line benefit more significantly. Mechanism testing results indicate that industrial structure optimization, human capital accumulation, and improved matching efficiency are important intermediary pathways through which the digital economy enhances the quality of flexible employment. The conclusion indicates that amplifying the positive empowerment effect of the digital economy on the quality of flexible employment, implementing targeted policies, and activating three indirect transmission pathways—industrial structure, human capital, and supply–demand matching efficiency—are key measures to enhance the quality of flexible employment.