Better education, finances have helped bring down the country’s total fertility rate to a point when it is lower than the population replacement level. This, however, has its downsides…
India was among the first few countries to launch a population control programme as early as the 1950s. The total fertility rate, or the average number of children a woman would have by the end of her childbearing years, was 5.9. So, the First Five-Year Plan said that family planning would be part of the public-health programme. Some 70 years later, India’s National Family Health Survey-5 (NFHS-5) says the country’s total fertility rate (TFR) has reached below the population replacement level of 2.1. It stands at exactly 2, down from 2.2 in the last survey.
It's the ideal number, both men and women between the ages of 15 and 49 said in the survey. If they could choose their family size, they would want to have two children.
It's the ideal number, both men and women between the ages of 15 and 49 said in the survey. If they could choose their family size, they would want to have two children.