According to the population and housing census in 2000, Mongolia has over 550.000 households, which increased by 26.5 percent or 113.300 households against the previous decade. 54.8 percent of total households live in urban places, while 45.2 percent live in rural areas.

During the early years of Mongolia ’s market economy, migration from urban places to rural areas was dominant. However, due to dzud and drought natural disasters occurring frequently in the previous five years, migration from rural areas to urban places has increased, especially migration of herders who lost animals in the natural disasters, which dramatically increased. Along with the natural disasters, factors including insufficient quality of education and health services, and lack of work positions in rural areas, as well as others, led them to migrate. In the 2000 census, 491,806 people or 20.7 percent of the total population were covered in migration.

Unemployment remains the Government’s main concern and a primary cause of poverty. The extreme severity of the last three winters revealed the vulnerability of the rural economy and accelerated the migration of people seeking better access to social services and employment opportunities from the remote aimags to urban areas, particularly to Ulaanbaatar .

An extensive system of social protection existed in pre-reform Mongolia , characterized by features typical to a centrally planned economy, including price subsidies; generous pension benefits and family allowances; universal free health care etc.  The structure of social welfare reformed in recent years. On January 1, 1995 , Laws that reformed the social insurance system came in to effect. As outlined in the Social Insurance Law, fund-comprising pensions, benefits, compensation for job-related accidents, and unemployment funds was established, as well as a new State Social Insurance Agency consisting of representative of the Government, employers, and employees.

The population health status was dramatically improved in Mongolia in the 20th century. Within this period of time infant mortality had decreased by 16 times, while maternal mortality had experienced almost a 100-fold decline, and such communicable diseases as louse-born epidemic typhus, genital lymphgranulomatosis, smallpox and poliomyelitis were eradicated, predetermining an almost four-fold increase in population number, and improvement in population health. Although such profound changes have been associated with a number of socioeconomic factors, they have been unbreakably bound to the contemporary science-based health sector development in Mongolia , while the first hospital was established only in 1924 with 3 health workers and 15 beds.

The urbanization process intensified from the 1960s in Mongolia and today, 57 percent of the population or 1.34500 citizens live in Ulaanbaatar and 43 percent live in rural areas. 49.1 percent of the population lives in ger districts. The square per capita living in apartment is 6.7 quadrate meters in Ulaanbaatar and 56 quadrate meters in rural areas, which are lower than the international standard by twice.

As of the population census 2000, 46.6 percent of Mongolian population consists of children under the age of 18. Mongolia has joined international legal documents regarding the protection of children’s rights. A law on the protection of children’s rights was passed in 1996. During the current decade, educational programs have been implemented which have substantial effects and improvements for educational services and protection of children’s right to education. School age children cover 21 percent of Mongolia ’s population.

The 50.5 percent or 1.232.800 of Mongolia population is women. About 61.300 women of those head the family. The educational achievement of women is improving year by year. To date, 11.8 percent of Mongolian parliament members, 9.1 percent of deputy ministers, 16.9 percent of chiefs of agencies and organizations, 4.5 percent of presidiums of Citizens Representative Meetings of city and aimags and 3.3 percent of governors of aimag and districts are women. In recent years, the percentage of tertiary women has increased from 55 percent to 65.4 percent.